Ben Thanh Market's makeover and the new rail line: what is done and what is only planned
Ben Thanh Market is open, and nothing has been announced that closes it or moves its entrances. The makeover you have seen photographs of — the red roof, the repainted walls, the reworked square — was carried out in the first weeks of 2026 and is finished. The rail line beside it is a different project on a different clock: VinSpeed broke ground in December 2025, work on the main construction components began on 30 October 2026, and the schedule given that day put construction completion in the fourth quarter of 2028 with commercial operation in 2029. Neither changes what you do inside the market. Both change the street outside it, and the second one will change it for years.
Most pages that mention either project blur the two, and blur “scheduled” into “done”. This page keeps them apart: first what has actually been built, painted and listed; then what has only been announced, with the date somebody said it would happen; then what any of it means for getting in.
The clock tower of Ben Thanh Market, photographed in 2013. Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Already done: the heritage listing and the 2026 makeover
On 20 November 2024, Ho Chi Minh City listed the market as a City-level architectural-art relic (Di tích kiến trúc nghệ thuật cấp Thành phố), by Decision No. 5300/QĐ-UBND. That decision shapes everything that came after it: what the city then approved is repainting and reorganisation on the original lines and patterns, not redevelopment. The record shows preservation with a new surface — the same form, a fresh coat.
The works themselves came in the weeks before Tết 2026. The city approved a programme covering seven roads, intersections and public works — among them the square in front of Ben Thanh Market — implemented from 17 January 2026 with a stated finish before 10 February 2026. At the market that meant exterior walls repainted in the original lines and decorative patterns, damaged exterior wall lights replaced, road markings and walkways repainted, and the square decorated. The market board's own account describes the roof repainted in a bright red tone and the square, pavements, lighting, pedestrian space and sanitation reorganised as urban embellishment for Tết, with the building's architectural form kept.
After more than two weeks of work the square in front of the market reopened — reworked with wave motifs, a nod to the old Bến Nghé canal network the market once faced, and fitted with decorative boats — beneath a roof newly painted red. Locals and visitors photographed it, and those are the photographs still circulating as “renovation” news.
| When | What was done | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Nov 2024 | Listed as a City-level architectural-art relic, Decision No. 5300/QĐ-UBND | The building is protected; later work is framed as preservation, not redevelopment |
| From 17 Jan 2026 | City-approved programme on seven roads, intersections and public works, including the square in front of the market, with a stated finish before 10 Feb 2026 | The square in front of the market was finished and reported complete on 5 February 2026, before Tết; the programme's other six sites are outside this page |
| Jan–Feb 2026 | Roof repainted red; exterior walls repainted on the original lines and patterns; damaged wall lights replaced; walkways and road markings repainted; square decorated | The facade and the ground outside look different from older photographs |
| Feb 2026 | The square in front of the market reopened after more than two weeks of works, with wave-motif paving and decorative boats | New paint and a new surface — not a new market |
For the building's own story — construction in 1912–14 and the renovations since — our history of Ben Thanh Market has the timeline. This page covers only what has changed since 2024.
Announced or planned — not done
One item here is a plan on the record; the other is a rumour the record does not support. Both get blurred in headlines.
The statues in front of the market. A draft plan reported in January 2024 included remaking the Trần Nguyên Hãn and Quách Thị Trang statues in a more durable material (bronze casting), together with minor repairs inside the market after it received its relic classification. The city then directed the recasting in September 2024, and the square project it approved in February 2025 carries a package for casting the Trần Nguyên Hãn statue in bronze and moving the Quách Thị Trang statue. It was reported as a plan. That programme was scheduled over 2025–2026, but we have found no report that the statues have been cast or re-installed and no completion report, so treat them as announced and unconfirmed: do not plan a visit around seeing them finished.
What is not planned, on the record. Nothing in the sources behind this page says the market is closing, moving or being rebuilt. If you find a page that says otherwise, it is not reporting an announcement — none has been made.
The Ben Thanh–Can Gio railway
The rail line is the project behind the phrase “construction next to Ben Thanh”. It belongs to VinSpeed High-Speed Rail Investment & Development JSC and is called the Ben Thanh–Can Gio railway. It is about 54 km long, double track, standard 1,435 mm gauge and electrified. About 3.3 km of it is underground, from Ben Thanh Station at Km 0+000 to roughly Km 3+173; the rest runs on viaducts.
Where it meets the market: the line starts in the area around Ben Thanh Market, in Ben Thanh Ward, and ends at a 39-hectare site adjoining the Can Gio coastal-reclamation tourism urban area in Can Gio Commune. Because the Ben Thanh end is the underground section, the first 3.3 km of the route are not at street level at all.
Read the dates below for what each one is: the first two have happened, the rest are a schedule and a target. Ground was broken on 19 December 2025. VinSpeed's notice, reported on 24 October 2026, scheduled the key components to start on 30 October 2026: the line itself, the Ben Thanh and Can Gio stations, the depot, the operations control centre, and the power, communications, signalling and fare systems. The same notice said VinSpeed aimed to complete the project in December 2029 — a target, not an opening date.
The record moves faster than a page does. The most recent sources we hold report the start itself: on 30 October 2026 VinSpeed and its contractors began work on the key components at several points along the route, including the Ben Thanh underground station, and those reports carry the schedule given that day — all land handed over in the fourth quarter of 2026, construction completed in the fourth quarter of 2028, trial runs, then commercial operation in 2029. They report a start, not a completion, and nothing in them announces a closure of the market or a change to its entrances.
| Stage | Date | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Groundbreaking | 19 Dec 2025 | Reported as done — but a groundbreaking is a ceremony, not a railway |
| Key components start: the line, the Ben Thanh and Can Gio stations, the depot, the operations control centre, power, communications, signalling and fare systems | 30 Oct 2026 | Began, per reports of 30 Oct 2026 (VOV, SGGP) |
| Construction completion | Q4 2028 | Schedule given when work began on 30 Oct 2026; the 24 Oct 2026 notice had said December 2029 |
| Commercial operation | 2029 | Scheduled after trial runs — still a target, not an opening date |
For a visitor, and until the line is completed and opened, there is no passenger service, no ticket, no station you can enter and no published fare in VND. When it is finished it will be a way to reach Can Gio from the market end; it is not a replacement for the metro you can already ride. Metro Line 1 runs from Ben Thanh station, and our getting-here guide sets out the metro, the buses and the approach to each gate.
The glass entrance pavilion of Ben Thanh metro station.
What this means for your visit
No closure and no entrance change has been announced. The construction notice for the rail components names the market-area start point and the components being built; it does not announce a change to the market's entrances or a closure of the market. That is the state of the record, and it is the answer to the question people actually ask. It is also the fact most likely to change, so check the operator's own channels before a trip you have planned around a specific date.
The building has four gates, each opening onto a different street:
| Gate | Vietnamese name | Street |
|---|---|---|
| South Gate (clock tower) | Cửa Nam | Quách Thị Trang square |
| North Gate | Cửa Bắc | Lê Thánh Tôn |
| East Gate | Cửa Đông | Phan Bội Châu |
| West Gate | Cửa Tây | Phan Chu Trinh |
The north gate of Ben Thanh Market, on the Lê Thánh Tôn Street side. Photo: 源義信, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Where each gate leads inside the hall is on our market map; for the visit itself, four things are worth knowing before you go:
- Use the gate that matches your approach. If the square side is the one fenced on the day, the other three gates open onto ordinary streets — north on Lê Thánh Tôn, east on Phan Bội Châu, west on Phan Chu Trinh — so no single entrance is critical.
- Allow extra time around the square. Street works change crossings and drop-off points, and they change again between phases. Follow the signs on the ground rather than a map screenshot.
- Hours: the rulebook still sets them. The market's rulebook sets opening hours of 07:00 to 22:00, with fresh and cooked food stalls opening at 04:00; holidays are by separate notice (Nội quy chợ, Điều 1). No change to those hours has been announced for the works, and the practical shape of a day is on our opening-hours page.
- Plan for street level, not an overpass. The first 3.3 km of the line, from Ben Thanh Station, run underground; the rest runs on viaducts, further out along the route.
Seeing the new Ben Thanh
The makeover's visible result is the surface: the roof in its red tile, the walls on their original decorative lines, and a plaza finished with wave motifs and decorative boats as a nod to the old Bến Nghé canal network. It is the square that changed most, and the square is the thing to photograph — come early, before the day's traffic fills it. The market map shows the gates and the square, nearby attractions lists what else is within walking distance, and about Ben Thanh Market covers what the building is and why it was listed.
Frequently asked questions
Is Ben Thanh Market closed for renovation?
No. The makeover was finished in February 2026, before Tết, and the construction notice for the rail line does not announce a closure of the market or a change to its entrances. No source behind this page supports a closure.
Why is the roof red?
The roof was repainted in a bright red tone during the January–February 2026 makeover, as part of the city's embellishment of the square and the surrounding streets for Tết 2026. The building's architectural form was kept; the colour is new paint, not new structure.
What is the construction outside the market?
Two different things on two different clocks. The square was repainted, redecorated and re-lit in January–February 2026, and that work is finished. The Ben Thanh–Can Gio railway, a roughly 54 km VinSpeed line that starts in the market area, began work on its key components on 30 October 2026, with construction scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2028 and commercial operation in 2029.
When does the train to Can Gio open?
No opening date has been announced. The city's investment approval of 5 December 2025 required the line to be operating in 2028; VinSpeed's notice reported on 24 October 2026 put completion at December 2029; and the schedule given when work began on 30 October 2026 put construction completion in the fourth quarter of 2028, with trial runs and commercial operation in 2029. Those are requirements and targets, not an opening date, so plan nothing around them.
Did any of the market's gates change?
No entrance change has been announced. The four gates remain the South Gate (Cửa Nam, under the clock tower) on Quách Thị Trang square, the North Gate (Cửa Bắc) on Lê Thánh Tôn, the East Gate (Cửa Đông) on Phan Bội Châu and the West Gate (Cửa Tây) on Phan Chu Trinh. Confirm on the day if a street phase has moved a crossing.
Were the statues in front of the market replaced?
Not as far as any published source shows. Remaking the Trần Nguyên Hãn and Quách Thị Trang statues in bronze was a draft plan reported in January 2024, it was directed by the city in September 2024, and the square project approved in February 2025 includes a package for the casting and the relocation. We found no report of the work being finished and no completion announcement, so nothing in the record says the statues have been recast.
Sources and status of this page
The market facts here come from the operator, Ban Quản lý chợ Bến Thành (the Ben Thanh Market Management Board): its article on the 2024 listing and the 2026 makeover on benthanhmarket.vn, and its market regulations, the Nội quy chợ, for the hours. The scope of the makeover is reported by Vietnam.vn from the city's directive, the reopening with the wave motifs by VietNamNet, the statue plan by VietNamNet, the city's direction of September 2024 on the statues by Pháp Luật TP.HCM, the February 2025 square project that carries the statue package, by Tien Phong, and the rail line by Tuoi Tre reporting VinSpeed's notice of 24 October 2026, as well as by VOV and SGGP reporting the start of work on 30 October 2026 and the schedule given that day. Where a source is a draft plan or a schedule, this page says so; where nothing has been announced, it says that instead of filling the gap.
Related pages: the market's history · what Ben Thanh Market is · the gates and the square · how to get here · opening hours · nearby attractions.