Japanese firm to buy train for Laos !

A Japanese business group has expressed interest in buying a train for Laos , to help the landlocked country overcome transport barriers to world markets in the future, according to a senior railway official.

The Deputy Director of the Lao Railway Authority, Mr Sonesack N. Ngansana, said yesterday that Tezuka Rolling Stock of Japan had announced it would buy a two-carriage train, for goods and passengers, from Thailand , as a gift for the Lao government once it opens the first railway early next year.

“The Japanese group informed us recently that they would like to give us the train we need,” he told Vientiane Times, adding that the group recognised the importance of a railway link for a landlocked country like Laos .

The group holds major investment shares in a railway business in Tokyo , Japan , according to Mr Sonesack.

He said the Japanese entrepreneurs would also provide financial support to ensure Lao officials received the proper training in how to operate and maintain the train, to ensure it would run smoothly once the railway link to Thailand is completed.

A Lao business owner, Mr Hom Songpadith, speaking on behalf of the Japanese entrepreneurs, confirmed they were negotiating with Thai authorities to buy the train, and said Thai trains had compatible wheel types.

He explained that at, first, the Japanese wanted to present Laos with a Japanese-built train, but it had the wrong wheel design, and this would have meant extra costs in having it modified for the Lao track.

He also said he could not confirm how much the train would cost, because the price was subject to negotiation.

Mr Sonesack said the Japanese entrepreneurs had initiated the train purchasing project earlier this year, during the inauguration ceremony of the Lao railway link to Thailand .

He said he hoped the negotiations could be expedited so that there would be a train in place as soon as possible after the railway is completed.

“We won't be part of the purchasing process, because it's a negotiation that doesn't involve us, but we will do whatever we can to facilitate the agreement,” he said.

Mr Sonesack said that once Laos has a railway, it will be much easier to transport goods across the Thai border, and that the Lao and Thai governments had agreed to allow their trains to cross the border.

The construction of the 3.5 km-long railway from the centre of the Vientiane-Nong Khai Friendship Bridge to Dongphosy Train Station began in January this year and will take 18 months to complete, according to the project schedule.

The French government has provided 1.8 billion kip (150,000 euros) to carry out surveys for the construction of a further 9 kilometres of track to Sokham village, which is the planned location of the Vientiane Train Station.

By vientiane times