Construction work of Laos-China railway poised to commence

In his remarks at the ceremony, Minister of Public Works and Transport Bounchanh Sinthavong said the actual work is set to start in the coming days – a year after an official ground-breaking ceremony for the project was held.
Six Chinese contractors will work on six segments along the 417-kilometre railway, which will be built at a cost of US$5.8 billion (Bt208.5 billion). 
It will take five years to complete the single-track railway, meaning the mega project will be fully complete by the end of 2021, he said.
Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, adviser of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party’s Central Committee Somsavat Lengsavad, Chinese Ambassador Guan Huabing and other officials from both sides attended the ceremony.
The railway will form part of the planned regional rail route linking China to Singapore via Laos, Thailand and Malaysia, and will bring significant benefits to Laotians, Bounchanh said.
The railway, which will help to turn Laos from a landlocked into a land-link country, will offer more convenient, cheaper and faster transport and spur development in trade, investment, tourism and other areas, he said.
A study revealed previously by Lao authorities showed that domestic passengers on the Laos-China railway are expected to reach 3.98 million a year when it becomes operational. 
Ridership is forecast to rise to 6.11 million a year within the short term and 8.62 million in the longer term.
The cost of a journey from Vientiane to the Chinese border is expected to be about 161,850 kip (Bt710.50), much cheaper than travelling by road, which would cost 285,000 kip by public transport, Somsavat told the National Assembly when he was overseeing the project.
Using the railway, the transport of goods from Vientiane to the Chinese border is expected to cost only 269,750 kip per tonne, which is much cheaper than the current cost of road transport at 833,340 kip.
“Building the railway is a significant part of incorporating the resolution adopted by the 10th Party Congress into the socioeconomic development plan,” Bounchanh said.
The study also showed that the regional rail route will transport much more passengers. 
Passengers using the railway in the five countries of China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore are expected to reach 9.65 million a year to begin with, then rise to 11.98 million in the short term and 16.5 million in subsequent years.
Initially, goods transport on the railway between China and the four Asean countries is estimated to reach 2.59 million tonnes a year and rise to 3.62 million tonnes in the short term, then 5.46 million tonnes in the longer term.
The project will involve building 167 bridges with a total length of 61.81km, 75 tunnels with a combined length of 197.83km and 32 stations including 21 stations where two trains can pass.
The passenger train will travel at a speed of 160km per hour in mountainous areas and 200km per hour over flat land, while the freight train will run at 120km per hour.