Japanese firm to buy train for Laos
By Vientiane Times
(Latest Update November 13, 200
A Japanese business group has expressed interest in buying a train for Laos , to help the landlocked country overcome transport barriers to world markets in the future, according to a senior railway official.
The Deputy Director of the Lao Railway Authority, Mr Sonesack N. Ngansana, said yesterday that Tezuka Rolling Stock of Japan had announced it would buy a two-carriage train, for goods and passengers, from Thailand , as a gift for the Lao government once it opens the first railway early next year.
The Japanese group informed us recently that they would like to give us the train we need, he told Vientiane Times, adding that the group recognised the importance of a railway link for a landlocked country like Laos .
The group holds major investment shares in a railway business in Tokyo , Japan , according to Mr Sonesack.
He said the Japanese entrepreneurs would also provide financial support to ensure Lao officials received the proper training in how to operate and maintain the train, to ensure it would run smoothly once the railway link to Thailand is completed.
A Lao business owner, Mr Hom Songpadith, speaking on behalf of the Japanese entrepreneurs, confirmed they were negotiating with Thai authorities to buy the train, and said Thai trains had compatible wheel types.
He explained that at, first, the Japanese wanted to present Laos with a Japanese-built train, but it had the wrong wheel design, and this would have meant extra costs in having it modified for the Lao track.
He also said he could not confirm how much the train would cost, because the price was subject to negotiation.
Mr Sonesack said the Japanese entrepreneurs had initiated the train purchasing project earlier this year, during the inauguration ceremony of the Lao railway link to Thailand .
He said he hoped the negotiations could be expedited so that there would be a train in place as soon as possible after the railway is completed.
We won't be part of the purchasing process, because it's a negotiation that doesn't involve us, but we will do whatever we can to facilitate the agreement, he said.
Mr Sonesack said that once Laos has a railway, it will be much easier to transport goods across the Thai border, and that the Lao and Thai governments had agreed to allow their trains to cross the border.
The construction of the 3.5 km-long railway from the centre of the Vientiane-Nong Khai Friendship Bridge to Dongphosy Train Station began in January this year and will take 18 months to complete, according to the project schedule.
The French government has provided 1.8 billion kip (150,000 euros) to carry out surveys for the construction of a further 9 kilometres of track to Sokham village, which is the planned location of the Vientiane Train Station.
รถไฟลาวต้องส่งเสริมอุตสาหกรรมและหัตถกรรมลาว เช่นที่
เขตจัดสรรอุตสาหกรรม หัตถกรรมหลัก 21
Vientiane Times - December 5 , 2007
The Lao Railway Authority signed an agreement in Vientiane on Monday with the bid-winning French consultant company Systra to start conducting a survey and design plans for a 9-km railway in Vientiane.
This marks the second phase of the country's railway project to connect Dongphosy (ดงโพไซ) train station in Hadxaifong district (เมืองหาดทรายฟอง), currently under construction, to the planned station in Khamsavat village , Xaysettha district (บ้านคำสวัสดิ์ เมืองไชยเชษฐา).
Deputy Head of the authority Mr Sonesack N. Ngansana explained that the authority had initially planned to build another railway station in Sokkham village, Xaysettha district (บ้านซอกคำ เมืองไชยเชษฐา), but had decided instead to build one in Khamsavat village.
Mr Sonesack said the previously planned route would have passed through farmland and residential areas, and was also considered too close to the city centre; the authority wanted to minimise the impact on livelihoods, which was why it had changed locations.
The first survey was conducted in 2002 by the Korea Railroad Technical Cooperation Company.
Monday's agreement was signed by Mr Sonesack and Systra representative Mr Luc Vorilhon. The survey, which will take eight months to complete, will cost 246,565 euros, to be provided by the French Development Agency.
The bidding process took 197 days with nine consultant companies competing.
Mr Sonesack could not say when construction on the second phase would begin, as his authority was waiting for the outcome of the survey to define the project cost.
I believe that there will be funding available after the survey and project design, he said.
The funds might be granted by Thailand or France, or the Lao government will borrow money once the survey is complete.
The railway development is a priority of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport in promoting trade, investment and tourism with other countries, as well as to integrate the landlocked' country within the region.
Construction on the 3.5-km rail link from the centre of the Friendship Bridge to Dongphosy village in Vientiane began in January and, according to the Lao Railway Authority, it is now 70 percent finished and is set to be completed on schedule by mid-2008.
After the 9-km railway project, the authority plans to develop a new station in the Km 21 area (บ้านหลักยี่สิบเอ็ด), connecting with the railway running from Vietnam through Khammuan province.
The project is part of a plan to build a trans-Asia railway network, with routes connecting member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations.
Vietnam News Agency - Last updated: 16:23 - December 26, 2007
The Ministry of Transport has appointed the Vietnam Railway Department (VRD) to make a feasibility study on the construction of a railway linking Vietnam and Laos.
As part of the trans-Asia railway system, the route will start at Veuntai village (หมู่บ้านเวือนไท 12 กม. เหนือ เมืองท่าแขก) , 12 kilometres north of Thakhek city of Laos , and finish at Mu Gia Pass (ด่านมูเกีย) in Vietnams central Quang Binh province.
The project is estimated to cost US $450 million, said VRD Deputy Director Nguyen Van Doanh. (VNA)
Vietnam has agreed to assist Laos in the feasibility study for a railway project linking the city of Vinh, in central Vietnam, to Laos capital Vientiane via Thakhek in central Laos.
The feasibility study is expected to take ten months and funded by a 3-billion Dong grant from Vietnam. The Vinh-Thakhek-Vientiane railway would be 519-kilometer long, with the Vinh-Thakhek segment running parallel to the R-2 highway.
If the project is deemed feasible, Laos is expected to look to China for construction funding. The Communist giant who wants to have railway access to its neighbors to the South to facilitate its trade has already approved a $525-million aid to Vietnam to fund railway feasibility study and construction projects linking Vietnam to Laos and Kampuchea. China hopes to have a railway network running from Kunming to Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Kampuchea, and Thailand by 2020.
Posted: 02/01/2008 4:18 pm Post subject: ลาวเริ่มทำการสำรวจทางรถไฟเชื่อมเวียตนามที่ท่าแขก
Laos, Vietnam start survey for friendship railway
By Ekaphone Phouthonesy
Vientianetimes - Janurary 1, 2007
Laos and Vietnam have joined hands in conducting a survey of a possible railway to link the central Lao province of Khammuan with Quang Binh, Vietnam.
The Deputy Director General of the Lao Railway Authority, Mr Sonesack N. Ngansana, said on Monday that the joint survey by Lao and Vietnamese railway officials began last month with the financial support of the Vietnamese government. The survey is expected to take 10 months to complete.
He said the new friendship railway would commence in Thakhek town, the capital city of Khammuan province, and stretch east through Nhommalath district to connect with an existing railway in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Binh.
The survey of over 150 km of the railway between the two countries was actually first begun during the colonial era, and we can still see some evidence of this old railway track, he told Vientiane Times.
Mr Sonesack said that once the survey is completed, the government officials would come together to hear the findings, and discuss funding options for the construction of the friendship railway.
He confirmed that several international financial institutes have expressed interest in providing financial assistance to the project, which is a component of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) development programme.
According to unofficial estimates, the construction of the railway could run to more than 3.2 trillion kip (US$350million). However Mr Sonesack said that project costs could be even more expensive if the railway is forced to traverse any mountainous areas.
If the railway passes through any mountains, we will have to excavate a number of tunnels, and costs would be more expensive, he said. During the survey, we will concentrate on avoiding these areas that would require tunnels, in order to reduce construction costs.
Mr Sonesack said that a railway linking Laos and Vietnam was very important because it would mean a number of existing railways in the region were better much connected. A railway is a symbol of modernisation, makes the transportation of goods easier, and boosts the economic development of a nation, he continued.
The Lao government considers as very important the development of a railway within the country, because it would allow great advancements in efforts to turn the country from landlocked into land-linked.
The government began the construction of the county's first railway from the Vientiane-Nong Khai Friendship Bridge to Dongphosy village, Hadxaifong district in Vientiane, in January 2007. The 3.5 km railway, funded by the Thai government, is due for completion in April 2008. (ทางรถไฟสายท่านาแล้งจะเสร็จเมษายน 2551)
The government last month also began the survey of another 9 km railway, to run from Dongphosy village to the planned Vientiane train station in Khamsavath village, Xaysettha district. The survey is funded by the French government. (ตอนนี้เริ่มการสำรวจทาง 9 กิโลเมตรด้วยทุนฝรั่งเศส จากท่านาแล้งไปกำแพงพระนครเวียงจันทน์ ที่บ้านคำสวัสดิ์ เมืองไชยเชษฐา กำแพงพระนครเวียงจันทน์)
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