Laos rethinks rail compensation

VIENTIANE, 31 August 2017: Lao PDR has assured village communities it will improve compensation payments to expropriate land needed for the China- Laos high-speed railway.

The national news agency reported, Thursday, that Deputy Minister of Public Works and Transport, Bounchan Chanthawng, had hosted consultative meeting to mediate terms covering compensation for communities affected by the construction of the railway project.

The meeting was held earlier in the week in Luang Prabang. Read more

Thailand’s rail plans speed up

BANGKOK, 28 August 2017: Thailand’s government  approved a draft contract for the  construction and design of the first phase of the country’s high-speed railway project with China, last week.

The first stage of the  high-speed railway will link Bangkok and the northeast province of Nakhon Ratchasima and is scheduled to be operational by 2021.

The Thai cabinet and the National Legislative Assembly, have approved the first phase of the new railway and once all phases are completed, it will offer a fast train link from Yunnan province in China to the eastern seaboard on the Gulf of Thailand and eventually to Malaysia and Singapore. Read more

Trains in trouble

HANOI, 27 June 2017: Built by the French to fix trains for their fast-developing Vietnamese colony, the Gia Lam factory later churned out weapons to fuel the country’s independence fight, and then survived the onslaught of American bombers during the war.

But the storied Hanoi plant is now in decline, a victim of the rising consumer power of Vietnam’s middle classes as passengers turn from trains to planes.

“In the past, I was proud to work here because this factory was the biggest in Indochina,” repairman Au Duy Hien told AFP. Read more

Can the GMS connect rail by 2020?

LUANG PRABANG, 7 June 2017: Rail systems fail to figure in the Mekong Region travel picture, but that might change over the next 10 years as plans to build new lines and link existing rail networks take shape in the six-country region.

A report on the Greater Mekong Subregion website challenges readers. “Imagine boarding the overnight sleeper train in Ho Chi Minh City and waking up in Bangkok, or in Yangon a few days later.”

This is not a remotely possible today in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), but officials and executives of the Asian Development Bank believe that could change a dream into reality by 2020. Read more

China-Lao rail gathers steam

LUANG PRABANG, 7 June 2017: A fast rail line from China to Laos will run straight through Luang Prabang, Lao PDR’s famed World Heritage town, when it opens December 2021.

Officials confirmed late last month that the construction of the Laos-China railway is gathering steam as teams bore and drill foundations at 75 tunnel and 167 bridge locations on a route that will stretch 414 km from end-to-end.

The line crosses the China-Lao border with major rail stations planned for Luang Namtha, 360 km northeast of Lao capital, Luang Prabang and Vientiane where it will eventually merge with a line crossing into Thailand at Nong Khai. Read more

Advisor appointed for high-speed rail project

KUALA LUMPUR, 28 July 2016: MyHSR Corporation Sdn Bhd (MyHSR) has selected CH2M as its technical advisor for the iconic cross-border Kuala Lumpur–Singapore high-speed railway.

Following the recent signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on the project by both the Malaysian and Singaporean governments, MyHSR has now awarded its Technical Advisory Services tender to CH2M.

CH2M, with its sub-consultant PwC, will support MyHSR to develop the project, including working on the planning and design of the Malaysian section of the project, and assisting with the project management. Read more

Cambodia considers airport link

PHNOM PENH, 17 May 2016: Cambodia’s Royal Railways is conducting a feasibility study on establishing a commuter rail service to run between the capital’s airport and the central district.

The company holds a 30-year concession to operate all railway networks in the country.

Phnom Penh Post quoted Royal Railways CEO, John Guiry, saying the project was just a small “tram service”. Read more

Sightseeing by railway

SHAN STATE, 18 February 2016: Myanma Railways provides a Rail Bus Engine (RBE) for passengers to cross the Gokhteik viaduct in Nawnghkio, western Shan State, for sightseeing.

Global New Light of Myanmar reported the rail bus engine can carry  20 passengers along the Gokhteik viaduct.

The service costs K5,000 (USD4.06) per person and includes 10-miniute stops on both sides the bridge. Read more

Death Railway museum opens 2016

MON STATE, 1 December 2015: A Death Railway Museum at the site of the World War II-era Death Railway in Thanbyuzayat Township in Myanmar will open in April next year.

Global New Light of Myanmar media reported the museum will showcase historic photos connected with the Death Railway, paintings and sculptures and 3D images of the daily life of prisoners of war who died during construction of the railway.

It will be very similar in design and content to the death railway museums in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. Read more

Scotland’s border railway reopens

EDINBURGH, 7 September 2015: The new Scottish railway line that winds through landscapes romanticised by writer Walter Scott will be the backdrop to Queen Elizabeth II’s longevity record when she officially reopens the route on Wednesday.

“The queen could have been anywhere in the Commonwealth, but she chose to honour Scotland,” David Parker, a councillor from the Scottish Borders region south of Edinburgh told AFP.

On Wednesday the queen will become Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, surpassing her great-grandmother Queen Victoria rule of 63 years and 216 days.

Read more

Next Page »