Lao Railway Progress

[Barney]

It may not only be the railways and loans that Laos will payback.

Laos is building a huge network or hydro power stations, up to a total of 100 in the next few years. With a capacity of 28,000MW.
And guess who will or is building them?
The intention is to make this a huge money earner for Laos, selling power to China, Thailand 10,000 MW, Vietnam 5000MW, Myanmar 200MW, Malaysia and Singapore 100MW. An article I read is that Laos wants to be know as the" Battery of Asean".
Good luck to them and hopefully the whole country will prosper.

[FrazeeDK]

yes as they perform their obligatory "consultations" with the members of the Mekong River Commission then go ahead and build those additional dams on the Mekong.. Remember though that Thailand is the principal buyer of power out of Laos at this time.. Also note the Xayabouri dam on the Mekong which was and is quite controversial was built by a Thai construction firm..

[FrazeeDK]

update from Chinese Belt and Road site: https://eng.yidaiyilu.gov.cn/qwyw/rdxw/60605.htm

here's a shot of the bridge piers being built across the Mekong at Luang Prabang: https://eng.yidaiyilu.gov.cn/qwyw/rdxw/59950.htm

[FrazeeDK]

looks like both those Mekong spans were built in areas tough from an engineering standpoint. I don't think it would be as great a challenge in the Nong Khai area when, and I"ll emphasize "when" the rail bridge is built across the river to support the extension of the Kunming railway into Thailand..

[FrazeeDK]

veddy interesting.. I don't think the Khorat airport about 45km east of the city has any scheduled flights these days.. Starting an international flight from Kunming?? Could it have anything to do with the Chinese workers that will provide support for the Phase III and IV rail building for the Thai-Chinese "High Speed" railway project??? https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/genera ... at-flights

[arjay]

Does anyone know of the/any planned stations in Laos, immediately north of Vientiane, or of any sources to find further information on the proposed route and intermediate train stations?

[the-monk]

I am not sure this is what you are looking for.. Have a look. Good luck.

[arjay]

I am not sure this is what you are looking for.. Have a look. Good luck.

Monk, Was there meant to be a link in your post?

[the-monk]

Sorry about that .... a station list is given in the middle of the page.
Here is the link..
https://www.nomadicnotes.com/laos-railways/
Hope it will help.
My apologies....

[arjay]

Thanks very much, the monk. Very helpful.

I'm not sure how they will get on if they are running local and express trains and in both directions, on a single track railway.

[FrazeeDK]

they plan on having passing sections where it will be dual-tracked to allow express passenger trains get around freight trains. The Chinese will be running it so perhaps it will be managed well. Last week the system is supposedly 40% complete so well within the time frame for a late 2021 opening..

[arjay]

Yes, I had noted they will have passing sections, but that sounds like adding complications, what with express trains and slower local trains travelling in both directions, as well as freight traffic. Hope the Chinese have good signalling/safety systems.

Agreed having dual tracks would have added to the costs substantially.

I am wondering will the coming of the rail line mean that some attractive dormitory towns will spring up, just north of Vientiane, for example.

[FrazeeDK]

bureaucratic holdups.. https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/genera ... ail-holdup

[FrazeeDK]

according to the Chinese One Belt One Road website 90% of the contracted bridges and tunnels for the China-Lao railway will be completed by the end of 2019.. Moving apace.. https://eng.yidaiyilu.gov.cn/qwyw/rdxw/79595.htm..

additional updated from 12 February. https://eng.yidaiyilu.gov.cn/qwyw/rdxw/79273.htm

[parrot]

Meanwhile, in Thailand? https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/genera ... rapping-up snore

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Meanwhile in Burma,

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/go ... ridor.html

https://thediplomat.com/2018/12/myanmar ... -and-road/

[FrazeeDK]

that story on "wrapping up the talks" on the Sino-Thai high speed rail is a bit laughable. It is still talking about that first contract on the 3.5 kilometer first segement that was started a year ago.. It is down south of Korat.. You'd think they could have knocked out 3.5 km in about 2 weeks since on Google Earth it appears flat and nothing required but roadbed, ballast, sleepers and rails.

[FrazeeDK]

on the Burma articles, the Chinese are already extending rail lines southwest through their own territory towards the Burmese border. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dali%E2%8 ... li_railway

the Sittwe to Kunming oil/gas pipeline project was completed in 2014 providing an alternative to shipping oil/gas through the Malacca Straits a key objective of China's OBOR strategy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Myanmar_pipelines

here's the oil/gas terminus in Burma on the Bay of Bengal https://www.google.com/maps/place/Kyauk ... 93.5458489

I believe originally the Chinese wanted to build a road/rail system paralleling the pipeline but the Burmese played them on it and claimed they couldn't allow it due to ethnic groups protesting...

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Yes, the Burmese know what the Chinese are up to, but it is difficult for a small nation to stand up to China.

[FrazeeDK]

oh those crafty Burmese generals knew what they were doing when they converted from their Junta to a transitional democracy.. The Chinese had them by the short and curlies when they were shunned by the western nations. When they "transitioned" and let ASSK and the NLD back into a political system the floodgates of western investment money flowed in.. That gave the Burmese the ability to play all sides and not be stuck only with the Chinese...