A train of the Line 1 of the HCMC Metro is seen past residential buildings in Ho Chi Minh City on Dec. 22, 2024. When construction began in 2012, authorities promised the line would be up and running in five years.

Hundreds of people lined up for the chance to be among the first passengers to board Metro Line 1 as it began operations in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday, according to state-run news agency Viet Nam News.

After years of funding shortages, ballooning costs and bureaucratic foot-dragging, Ho Chi Minh City is opening the first metro line to serve its 10 million residents.

The Metro Line No. 1 of Ho Chi Minh City running from Ben Thanh to Suoi Tien will be open for free for one month after its official inauguration ceremony on December 22. In the following days, the stations are open from 5am to 10pm. every day, with trains running every 8 to 12 minutes. There are 31 bus routes connecting to the Metro Line No. 1.

The subway has been opened 17 years after the launch of the project in Ho Chi Minh City, southern Vietnam's largest city.According to AFP, Ho Chi Minh City's

An Phu Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City is a stunning masterpiece adorned with over 30 tons of porcelain fragments, earning its place as one of Vietnam’s most unique temples.

Years of start-and-stop construction means the seemingly new ticket vending machines are partly obsolete: they accept coins that are no longer in circulation.