Thai-Cambodian connection

[reader]

From The Nation (22 Apr.)

Cambodia and Thailand reconnected by rail after 45 years

Poipet, Cambodia - A railway reconnecting Cambodia and Thailand was officially inaugurated on Monday in a bid to slash travel times and boost trade between the southeast Asian neighbours.

The railway would also better link his country to other southeast Asian neighbours and boost economy and trade, he added.

Bilateral trade between Thailand and Cambodia currently stands at $6 billion.

Cambodia last year re-opened the final stretch of a 370-kilometre (230-mile) railway running from the capital, Phnom Penh, to the Thai border.

The Asian Development Bank bankrolled the reconstruction of the link to the tune of $13 million.

Much of Cambodia's railways -- built by the French in colonial times -- were damaged by the years of bitter conflict that engulfed the country during the Cold War era.

The 48-kilometre (30-mile) section of track near Poipet was destroyed in 1973 while the rest of the track to Phnom Penh had been suspended for over a decade due to its poor condition.

The Southeast Asian country has more than 600 kilometres (375 miles) of track extending from its northern border with Thailand to the southern coast.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30368126

 

[Moses]

Regular service, however, will not begin until the two countries settle on the schedule and other details. That is expected to be completed by the end of the year, acting State Railway of Thailand governor... 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/tourism-and-transport/1664764/thailand-cambodia-ready-to-relaunch-train-link

[Guest]

The line from Phnom Penh to Battambang reopened in 2018 with a limited service.    I went along to Phnom Penh station in December 2018 to buy a ticket and was told the service was suspended until January.     I believe the suspension was for maintenance.   Having ridden on a "bamboo train" near Battambang about 5 years ago, I noticed the line was in quite bad condition & it will probably need a lot of track re-laying if they are to run any kind of decent service.   So that kind of needs the Khmer authorities to get their act together.

Meanwhile, the train line from Thailand has crossed the border into Laos for 20 years.   Yet, in Laos, the train stops in the middle of nowhere and has still not been extended to reach the capital, which is just a few km away.    

A few thoughts here.  

1   Having made the symbolic cross border connection, it needs Thai AND Khmer authorities to get their act together and run a proper service that actually goes somewhere.

2  When I crossed the border at Poipet in December, it took just over 2 hours due to the piss poor immigration management on the Thai side.   That's after I splashed out $40 on a taxi to make sure I arrived before the tourist buses as well.   Money spent on faster transport links will be wasted if lazy corrupt and incompetent immigration officials are too lazy to man their desks and process customers within a reasonable timescale.     The Cambodia side was fine.

3  There is a railway from Vientiane to China under construction.   I hope the Chinese realize they will need to run the trains as well, as no one in Laos yet has a much idea about running an efficient transport service.