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Sunday, July 14, 2024 Vol. 19 No. 271
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A TRAIN TO THE WORLD
THE China-Laos Kunming-Vientiane Railway project, Laos’s biggest, is part of the Belt and Road Initiative of China. VG CABUAG
R
LAOS-CHINA RAILWAY GIVES ASEAN’S ONLY LANDLOCKED COUNTRY A LINK TO SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE WORLD
By VG Cabuag
AIL transportation has been used by man for centuries. The first ones used wooden rails, which then became metal. The modern trains first used steam engines, then used diesel engine, and then electric locomotives that allowed for today’s high-speed trains. In the Philippines, the idea of using railways for long commutes has been through cycles of being ditched and revived for several times. It’s now being revived again through the North-South Commuter Railway. Work on having a working, modern commuter rail transportation can be arduous, though. But not in Laos, the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. During the rule of the French, they failed to build a railway system in the country, save for a 7-kilometer line. They have since played catchup—and in a big way, with the Laos-China rail line. A railway link to China could
benefit the two socialist nations in terms of trade, will save Lao people from doing long commutes and will open the country to getting more tourists. The first talks to link the two nations using rail started in 2001. Nine years later in 2010, plans were announced for a railway that links Vientiane, the Lao capital, to Xishuangbanna in Yunnan, an autonomous prefecture for the Dai people, one of the 56 ethnic groups recognized by China. This region of China is very different from the Han Chinese, as it borders both Laos and Myanmar. The people here can understand the Lao language and also Thai.
Construction began in December 2016 at Luang Prabang, Laos’s former capital before it was moved in 1975—the same time the country gained its independence from the monarchy. The city was enlisted as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1995 in recognition of its wellpreserved architectural, religious and cultural heritage. Some five years after breaking ground, the railway link was already 90 percent complete. And in another year in 2021, the first train going to Vientiane was delivered. On December 3, 2021, the $5.96-billion project opened its operations to the public, a day after Lao National Day, which marks the end of the monarchy and the establishment of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in 1975.
Passenger and cargo
THE railway was built to handle both passenger and cargo. It was 422.4 kilometers long for the Lao side and about 1,035 kilometers going all the way to Kunming in China. It was constructed to follow Chinese first-class railway standards, with a designed speed of 160 kilometers per hour. “China has the better railway Continued on A2
LUANG Prabang Railway Station in Laos, the ninth station on the Boten-Vientiane railway. VG CABUAG
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 58.2980 n JAPAN 0.3668 n UK 75.2744 n HK 7.4671 n CHINA 8.0327 n SINGAPORE 43.4185 n AUSTRALIA 39.3920 n EU 63.3641 n KOREA 0.0425 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.5436 Source: BSP (July 12, 2024)