Thai-Lao rail link popular among travellers

 

In 2014 alone, more than 38,000 people used the railway services, an increase of 15.7 percent compared to the previous year. Of the total figure, 80 per cent were tourists and the rest were residents and businesspeople.

 

The Lao Railway Authority's Railway Management Division Chief, Somsana Rasaphone said that previously, the number of people using the railway route had increased by around 3,000 people annually but last year the figure increased by 6,000 people.

 

“I believe that more people will come to use our services once more facilities are built,” he said, saying that the railway has yet to serve goods transportation pending the construction of a warehouse.

 

“We are building the warehouse and a 2-km railway access line to it, funded through a 500 million baht loan from Thailand. The railway should be ready to facilitate the transportation of goods next year.”

 

Somsana said once these facilities are completed, the business sector including those who located their factories here will move to use the railway route for the import and export of products between Laos and other countries. Currently the railway has two trips a day, leaving Laos at 9.15am and 11.15 am respectively and returning at 3.00pm and 5.15pm.

 

The 3.5km railway which opened for service a few years ago connects Thanalaeng village in Hadxaifong district, Vientiane to Thailand's Nong Khai province.

 

The second phase of the railway project has yet to begin construction. However the project survey and design have been completed pending the decision to be made by the government.

 

The second phase of the project will see the construction of many facilities including a container yard, the upgrade of railway signals and improvements to the telecommunication s system at Thanalaeng station in Vientiane.

 

The Lao government considers the railway link with neighbouring countries as one of the strategies to turn the nation from being landlocked into becoming a land-link of the region. The Lao government has given the green light to a Malaysian investor to build a US$5 billion high-speed railway to link central Savannakhet province with the Lao-Vietnamese border over a distance of 220km.

 

The government also plans to build a US$7 billion high speed rail link from Vientiane to China.

 

At present, the two countries are negotiating to source funding for the project. The Lao-China high speed rail project is a part of the China-Asean Railway.

 

The rail aims to increase trade value between Asean and China after the two economies began to implement the free trade agreement in 2010. Laos expects to gain benefit from the project as it will boost exports and investment in the country.