Cambodia's passenger train services resumed regular weekend operations between Phnom Penh capital and southwestern Sihanoukville on Saturday after a 14-year hiatus.
In a bid to promote the kingdom's railways, Prime Minister Hun Sen boarded the first train, which ran on the 266-km railroad from the capital to the coastal province.
John Guiry, CEO of the Royal Railway, said the resumption of passenger train services was made after the successful operation of a nine-day trial run early this month.
The services from Phnom Penh to and from Sinanoukville will be operated on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, departing Phnom Penh at 7 am, with two stops in the provinces of Takeo and Kampot, he said, adding that the train from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh also departs at 7 am.
"The one-way ticket price is 6 U.S. dollars," he said. "The wagons can accommodate over 200 passengers and the full journey may take around 7 hours."
Standard cars are equipped with fans, while VIP cars sport air-conditioners, he added.
Tim Malis, a 70-year-old passenger, said she was very happy to see the revival of passenger train services.
"My family members and I chose to go by train because we think that travel by train is safer than travel by taxi," she told Xinhua. "Moreover, train fares are cheaper than those of taxi or bus fares."
The Southeast Asian nation has two lines of railroads. One southern line connects Phnom Penh to the seaport of Sihanoukville, and the other line in the north stretches from Phnom Penh to Poipet City and to Thailand in the distance of 385 km.
The two lines, which had been built between 1929 and 1969, were damaged during decades of civil war.
In 2009, the Asian Development Bank and development partners provided 141 million U.S. dollars to the country for the rehabilitation of the two rail networks.
Cambodian passenger train back on track after years-long hiatus
AFP news agency Published on Apr 30, 2016
Cambodia's sole passenger train resumes a regular weekend service after years of suspension, with Prime Minister Hun Sen climbing aboard to inaugurate the first trip.
A train fully laden with passengers snakes its way through the jungle on the route from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville in 1998. AFP
Repatriated refugees on a train from Thailand pass through Kampong Speu on their way home in April 1992, guarded by Malaysian army soldiers. AFP
Prime Minister Hun Sen gets up close and personal with fellow passengers during the first trip of the reinstated Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville service last Saturday. AFP
Cambodia was finally back on track, literally, when passenger train services started running last month after coming to a grinding halt many years ago after the civil war. The rehabilitation of the railways was started by the government in 2008, when work began on restoring one line from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville and another from Phnom Penh to Poipet. Ly Borin, the director of the Transportation Ministrys railway department and a newly appointed undersecretary of state at the Transportation Ministry, talked to Khmer Times Sok Chan about the railways, the rehabilitation and plans to connect Kunming in China to Singapore and other Asean states.
KT: The railway sector has been worked on since 2008 and the government has restored the two lines from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville and from Phnom Penh to Poipet after they had been unusable for many years, but the work has been very slow compared with neighboring countries. Can you tell us the latest on the railway restoration project?
Mr. Ly Borin: After the governments reformation of the railway started in 2008, it granted a license to Toll Railway, an Australian-based company, which worked with Royal Group to put together a business for carrying cargo. Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) provided a loan to the government to rehabilitate the two links of the railway from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville and from Phnom Penh to Poipet.
However, recently we completely rehabilitated only one line, from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville, which has transported cargo such as steel, rice, cement, oil and containers. Another line from Phnom Penh to Poipet is in the process of being repaired and some parts of it have been completed.
But this year, since we aim to connect our rail line to the Thai line, from Banteay Meanchey to Sa Kaeo in Thailand, we hope that by June this year this project will be completed. If the rail is able to connect from Poipet in Cambodia to Sa Kaeo in Thailand, it means that we can connect to Singapore via Thailand and Malaysia and we can call it an Asean railway.
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KT: You mentioned that the rehabilitation from Phnom Penh to Sihnanoukville had been completed, and the link between Cambodia and Thailand is expected to be completed by June this year. Can you tell us when the link from Phnom Penh to Banteay Meanchey is going to be completed?
Mr. Ly Borin: Another rail link from Serey Sophorn city in Banteay Meanchey province to Phnom Penh will be completed by the end of 2016, but it is not a high speed train because we want to make sure that this line is working. As you know our rail bridge about 100km from Banteay Meanchey to Phnom Penh was broken in the war, so we cannot make repairs to meet the governments target to complete all bridges by the end of the year. However, what we can do is to renovate and temporarily fix some bridges. That means that we will fix the difficult ones that were seriously damaged.
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KT: Since the government granted the concession to Royal Railway, what has been achieved by the government and what has Royal Railway done to rehabilitate the rail lines under the ADB loan?
Mr. Ly Borin: Since the completion of the link from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville and the port there, now the train runs every day and can link directly to the port for loading cargo from ships. Therefore, it helps companies to run their businesses as they have the rail link to connect with the port. However, we are still fixing and renovating the rail line every day and the repairs are being done by Royal Railway. What the government received was to get the service fee from Royal Railway to pay back to the ADB.
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KT: Could you talk about the benefits of the two rail lines when they are completely finished and restored and how they will boost the countrys economy?
Mr. Ly Borin: When both links are completed, it will be a good way to get tariffs from carrying agricultural products such as cassava, rice and corn from Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and other provinces between Thailand and Phnom Penh. The most important thing is the governments one million tons of rice for export policy could be achieved if both links are well operated since the cost of transportation will be lower than by road.
The train has a lot of benefits compared with trucks since the cargo can be much larger and using the train can also save the roads from being damaged by heavily loaded and overweight trucks. Using the train can also reduce traffic jams and accidents. The train, for example, could carry gas in up to 25 carriages with each carriage holding 45,000 liters to 72,000 liters, but a truckload can only hold a bit more than 20,000 liters, plus the trucks damage the roads.
One carriage on a train is equal to two trucks and if we use two engines, a train can carry up to 50 carriages one way. That means one train will be the equivalent of about 100 trucks on the road. All companies should consider using trains since they carry a big load and are cheaper than paying for up to 80 trucks.
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KT: How much does the government spend on the railway, and how far has the government managed to take the railway?
Mr. Ly Borin: The government had a limited budget for the railway as it was not a main prioritized sector, so progress in the railway sector was slow. But after seeing the difficulties, the government talked to the ADB about restoring the railway and seeking a private company to invest in it. The government was given a loan from the ADB of about $73 million to renovate the two lines from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh to Poipet. At first, there was only the ADB loan from OPEC and Malaysia through the ADB. But later on AusAID through the ADB added more than $20 million to include with the governments budget, so the total amount of money to restore the two links was $141 million.
Unfortunately, the $141 million had renovated only one line, from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville, and another 42 kilometers to link Poipet to Thailand, while for the link from Phnom Penh to Banteay Meanchey, the government allocated some of the national budget every year to fix and restore this link, and is waiting for another loan or grant to complete it 100 percent.
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KT: Since there is no loan or grant to restore the link from Banteay Meanchey to Phnom Penh, how much of the national budget is allocated to fix this line?
Mr. Ly Borin: The budget is up to the ministry of economy and is divided between each ministry and approval has to be sought from the national assembly for the government to share to each sector. The railway department is autonomous and has never received any budget from the ministry of economy and finance, but the government always supports any losses.
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KT: Chinas new Silk Road to link Kunming, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos will be completed in the near future. Is the government seeking another loan from other parties to boost this sector to develop faster compared with other countries?
Mr. Ly Borin: The government is open for all sources of loans to meet the target to link Cambodias railway to Kunming. Currently, if we can link Banteay Meanchey to Phnom Penh, it means that we already link with four countries, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Malaysia. The surveys from China and South Korea have been completed on the linking railway from Cambodia to Kunming three times already with the grant, but we are waiting for a budget to do it. Also, we have to link our rail to Vietnam since it is 257 km between Cambodia and Vietnam, while Vietnam left about 127 km from Ho Chi Min, but they both also finished their study. Both countries, Vietnam and Cambodia, are waiting for a budget to build it. I could not say the sources of funding as it is government policy. If we can do this, we can link to Singapore.
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KT: While Kunming, Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia have their rail systems in place, what is Cambodia doing to meet its target so far?
Mr. Ly Borin: We wait on only one thing, a budget. We have already completed a study of the plan. But the question is where is the budget, loan or grant? The connecting railway will not only benefit Cambodia, but Cambodia is a center that trains pass by, so the one who gets the benefits should share its budget, and China is the first country to help. China is a big source, but we are not waiting for only China. If other countries are willing to help, the Cambodian government will welcome them.
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KT: Royal Railway started a passenger train service on April 9 and it was widely welcomed by the people. How is the railway department encouraging people to use this service and will it survive and operate smoothly?
Mr. Ly Borin: It is the governments target to reduce the cost of logistics. Yes, I knew that Royal Railway ran passenger trains from April 9 to 17 to welcome in the Khmer New Year, and I accept that the price is higher than taking a car and slower than a car as we can run from 30 to 40 km per hour. We will discuss this to find the best way to load goods and passengers and cut the time. Now we have fundamental points to discuss with Royal Railway to keep the passenger train going. As you know, Royal Railway has aimed only at goods trains since it can make money to pay the government. If they carry only passengers, they will make a loss. To keep the passenger train going, Royal Railway has asked the government to help cover the losses, and now we are in negotiations. Royal Railway has reserved about $80 million to purchase engines for their business.
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KT: Is it sustainable when the government allocates parts of the national budget or provides loans to help Royal Railway?
Mr. Ly Borin: People need a cheap service. If the price and time is comparable with cars, they will use cars and the train. But the time and price of the train is different. If it is only the passengers who want to take the train, we have to renovate the rail and make it faster. Since the rails steel is old, if we change we can run up to 80km per hour. We used to have trains carrying passengers in the past, but they were mixed with freight and that is difficult for passengers since it takes time to reach a destination.
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KT: China aims to build a new rail link from Preah Vihear to Koh Kong. Do you know the exact plan?
Mr. Ly Borin: Yes, it is true. I know that China aims to do a rail link from Koh Kong to Preah Vihear, but I dont have much information on this. I received little information. China aims to build a port at Koh Kong and do a steel processing factory, but I have no more information.
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