Construction set to commence on Laos-China railway this month
CONSTRUCTION of the Laos-China railway will start this month, with work to begin in several provinces simultaneously, an official in charge of the project has said.
This approach will ensure that construction of the historic rail line, linking Vientiane to the Chinese border over a distance of 427km, is completed within the five-year target period. The construction cost is estimated at almost US$6 billion (Bt214 billion). Director of the Laos-China Railway construction project and Director of the Lao National Railway Company, Dr Koung Souk-Aloun, told Vientiane Times on Tuesday that construction equipment and machinery are in place to start drilling tunnels for the northernmost section of the track.
“We have signed agreements with Chinese construction |companies and consultancy firms who are preparing to start construction very soon,” he said.
“We will start work in several places at the same time to ensure that all construction work is carried out and completed according to plan.”
Dr Koung said the authorities are in the process of making compensation payments to families who will have to abandon their property to make way for the railway and a lot of progress has been made in Vientiane province in this respect.
Another outstanding component of the project is the signing of a concession agreement, but we expect to sign it this month, Dr Koung said. Demarcation of the railway has been completed.
The Laos-China section is part of a railway that will run from Kunming in China to Singapore and is part of the Belt and Road Initiative that China will use to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia and the rest of the world.
Kunming to Lao border
China is now building a railway from Kunming to the Lao border at Luang Namtha province, which will connect to the section running from the border to Vientiane.
The Lao and Chinese governments held an official ground-breaking ceremony for the Vientiane-Kunming section of the railway last December. But various procedures needed to be completed before work could begin on the Lao section, including the payment of compensation to people who would be displaced by the project.
The two sides set up a joint venture company to oversee the project with Laos holding a 30 per cent share and China being responsible for the remainder.
The planned single track will have a 1.435-metre standard-gauge rail network with 33 stations, of which 21 will open for use in the initial stage.
There will be 72 tunnels with a total length of 183.9 km, representing 43 per cent of the project's total length. The railway will also have 170 bridges measuring 69.2km in length, accounting |for 15.8 per cent of the total distance.
When being used for passenger transport, trains will travel at a maximum speed of 160km per hour, but when goods are being transported the maximum speed will be 120km per hour.
