Lao Railway Progress

[Fuzzy Ken]

A few years ago, I read about AH15 (Asia Highway). From the Vietnamese port at Vinh, on the South China Sea, it would make its way via Laos to Udon Thani, about 350 miles.

The idea was to have freight services to/from the ocean to Udon, to connect with the north/south railway, and of course make use of Udon airport. Udon becoming a sort of crossroads. I’m not sure whether AH15/12 has been completed, apart from a new bridge and customs near Tha Khek, Laos, but like the rest of us, I do know that the all-important rail link from Vientiane to Udon has yet to materialize. Getting all this completed, looks to me to be far more important than passenger service from BKK to Khorat. I’m sure, however, some will disagree.
Fuzzyken

All about Cambodia at www.fuzzykensblog.com

[fdimike]

The route from Vinh to Udon is not a very easy one when you consider the terrain. The current Mu Gia mountain pass is very steep and treacherous. The US bombed and sprayed with Agent Orange that mountain pass relentlessly during the Vietnam/US war in a futile attempt to close it. Some friends and I traveled over the pass by bicycle a couple of year ago after taking a pickup up to the immigration point as it was much too steep for a bicycle. I'm not an engineer but believe it would take a major engineering project to make it useable but anything is possible when it comes to the desire to make something work.

[FrazeeDK]

the plans for a railway from Laos to the Vietnamese coast is "planned" with MOA's signed. I suspect that it won't get moving until the Chinese decide it needs to be done. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vientiane ... ng_railway. I think the planned rail line from Vientiane down into the Lao panhandle will get built first to exploit the huge bauxite reserves not yet mined.. It will also provide easy rail transport of the Potash Mines in Khammouane Province across from Nakhon Phanom.. The Chinese already took over those mines as part of their loan deal with the Lao government and are shipping the ore back to China. It must be going by truck to Vientiane for further rail transport to the north.

[fdimike]

Definitely agree. It will get done when the Chinese are ready to do it because it appears that no other country has the wherewithal to get the job done.

[Khun Paul]

Definitely agree. It will get done when the Chinese are ready to do it because it appears that no other country has the wherewithal to get the job done.

Maybe true, however the COST to the countryr as a whole of Chinese so-called help is enormous and long=lasting , so although it would be nice it would hasten Chinas slow take over of the SE Asian nations

[fdimike]

KP that may be true, but it remains to be seen just how things go in Laos. There are plenty of Chinese in Laos right now doing business in nearly every city/town I've been through. Cambodia also has deep Chinese involvement in the country. They repaired and reopened the train lines in the country and are now building a deep-water port just opposite the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc.

[Fuzzy Ken]

Travelers going to Vientiane may like to note that train tickets will be available for those intending to travel on the Laos/China trains in Laos, a new ticket office has been proposed. It will be in the Vientiane shopping center. Book and pay for journeys to Botun and Luang Prabang. More details to follow.

All about Cambodia and Laos at: www.fuzzykensblog.com

[Fuzzy Ken]

As an alternative to the high-speed trains, conventional train services are now available between various stations with tickets available at the new ticket office. More details about this at the Laotian Times at this link: https://laotiantimes.com/2022/02/21/lao ... n-service/

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[the-monk]

Thanks, appreciated. Your link above <<www.fuzzykensblog.com >> finally worked today. Stay safe.

[FrazeeDK]

they've only got two of the high speed EMU's so having a freight locomotive pulling conventional passenger cars at 120KPH is a good solution. No doubt a cheaper purchase price too. I imagine if they add more trainsets they'll reduce the "1000 passenger" capability..

[arjay]

They will have to be careful they don't allow 2 trains travelling in opposite directions, to be on the same piece of single track at the same time. Or indeed a high speed and a slow train travelling in the same direction.

[FrazeeDK]

they've got full signalling installed as well as near total Chinese management of the rail line with Lao assistants. I haven't seen any detailed info on the number of freight or passenger trains but I'll wager the freighs are running likely in the nightime... Since the freights were said to be running 100-120kph a large on coming down from the border (there's a huge rail yard across from the Boten Lao side) a 4 hour run from the border down to Vientiane is doable. Anybody been up to the Thanaleang "Logistics Complex" to see if there are large numbers of freights train sitting there?/