KPL) The construction project of a railway system in Laos linking sub-region is almost 30 per cent completed, and is anticipated to open for public use by 2008 and to serve the 25th SEA-Game 2009 that will be hosted by Laos.

This is according to the project owner concluded last month, compared to the project plan.

The project was pressed button by Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh to kick start the construction earlier this year with an appreciation of linking sub-region along the Road No 1, which is belongs to an initiative idea of ASEAN Railway Kunming-Singapore...more

The project phase 1 stretches from the end of Friendship bridge to Ban Dongposy is valued at 197 million baht, of which 30 per cent of grant aid and loan for the rest.

For the second phase the railway will be built from the first station at Ban Dongphosy to Vientiane station at Ban Dongsavath with a stretch of nine km.

This project was granted by the French Government through Agence Francaise de Developpement that has approved the first grant of 150,000 euro.

This project has drawn attention from many companies both local and foreign that now five foreign companies have bought bid envelops from project owners.

Next phase of railway construction will build to connect the km 21 on the road No 13 passing through behind of the 25th SEA-Game stadium, industrial zone and an international airport that will be built in future.

The railway line of km 21 stretch is under survey and will be succeeded by this year.

Linking this railway from the km 21 to Thakhek district, Khammouna province, which connected Muda of Vietnam to Tan Up of Hanoi with a total stretch of 519 km.

One of the railways is the China-ASEAN rail link with three separate lines linking Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos with China.

The rail link will further go to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, and will be altogether 5,500 km-long. With its expected completion by 2015, the rail link will play a key role in pushing forward regional economic cooperation and integration.

China has already stated construction of the eastern line of rail link from Kunming to the Vietnamese border and it is investing 50 billion yuan (6.25 billion U.S. dollars) to build a total of three lines in Yunnan province to link them with Laos and Myanmar besides Vietnam.

Source: kpl

VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnam Railway Agency is designing a project to build two railways from Vietnam to Laos and Cambodia.

These are projects in the transport and railway development strategy of Vietnam to 2020, which was approved by the Prime Minister, and part of the trans-Asia and ASEAN railway network as well. The two projects have had feasibility research reports...more

The first project is the Saigon – Loc Ninh route to Cambodia, which is 130km in length. The Vietnam Railway Agency and two Chinese partners, the China Mechanical Equipment Import Export Corporation (CMC) and the China Railway Construction Corporation (SRCC), are performing research on this project.

This route will be 1m-wide railroad, with 12 stations, the first is Di An Station in southern Binh Duong Province and the last is the border-gate station of Hoa Lu. The total investment of this project is around VND3,918 billion (US$244.875 million).

The second project is the Vung Ang – Mu Gia (Ha Tinh province) to Laos, with 119km in length, and 1m width. This route will also have 12 stations, seven tunnels, and 24 bridges, totalling VND4,523 billion ($282,687 million) of investment.

According to Nguyen Van Doanh, Vice Head of the Vietnam Railway Agency, when being completed, the projects will open great opportunities for transport and trade cooperation among Indochina countries and to the region. For Vietnam, the projects will help promote economic development of some provinces, especially the Vung Ang port area in Ha Tinh province.

To connect railways, not only does Vietnam have to build railroads, but also Laos and Cambodia have to build railroads to their borders with Vietnam, Mr Doanh said.

After finalising research, the three countries will negotiate about the construction and use of border-gate stations.

(Source: TBKTVN)