Ho Chi Minh City metro line stops running for 1 hour after power outage

Ho Chi Minh City's Ben Thanh–Suoi Tien metro line suspended service for 53 minutes on Saturday morning due to a power outage, disrupting 14 trains and forcing passengers to disembark at stations.

The incident began at around 7:04 a.m., when the entire 220 kV Thu Duc substation lost power due to a fault in the national power transmission system.

Trains operating at the time were directed to the nearest stations, where passengers were asked to disembark and wait for services to resume.

According to HURC1, the line’s operator, the power outage affected 14 trains. Services resumed at 7:57 a.m., after the power system was fixed and the company worked with the Southern Power System Dispatch Center to restore the supply.

Passengers wait for Metro Line 1 at Binh Thai Station in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

A HURC1 representative said the electricity system supporting metro operations depends on the national power grid. The incident marked the first time the Ben Thanh–Suoi Tien line had experienced a service disruption caused by a power failure originating from the grid.

Since beginning commercial operations in December 2024, the line has experienced several disruptions caused by lightning strikes, which triggered electrical protection systems, forcing trains to stop as a safety precaution.

The most recent incident occurred on Oct. 7, when a lightning strike near Tan Cang Station disrupted services for approximately four minutes.

Disruptions due to power outages have happened to metro systems worldwide.

In August 2025, Japan’s Osaka metro suspended services across the entire Chuo Line following a power supply problem. Some sections resumed operations overnight, but full service was not restored until the following morning, affecting the travel plans of tens of thousands of passengers.

The Ben Thanh–Suoi Tien, HCMC's only running metro line, stretches nearly 20 km, comprising three underground stations and 11 elevated stations. It connects the city center with its eastern part.

The line uses 17 trains, each consisting of three carriages.

In its first year of operation, the metro line served approximately 19 million passenger trips, averaging 52,000 trips per day. By March 2026, daily ridership had risen to around 70,000 passenger trips.