Thailand will provide a train engine to Cambodia for the Thai-Cambodia Railway Link. Although more details about this transaction remain unclear, this gift will definitely be a much needed boost to the Cambodian side, as financial woes continue to plague the railway project.
First mooted in 2015 between Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Thai counterpart Prayut Chan-o-cha, the railway is part of efforts to boost trade and travel between both countries. According to The Khmer Times, both countries hope to boost bilateral trade by up to $15 billion by 2020. Cambodian authorities hope that the ease and convenience of train travel will help attract more Thai investors to Cambodia. It will also help the government to achieve its target of exporting one million tons of rice and other agricultural products as the cost of transportation is expected to be much lower.
The Thai-Cambodia Railway link is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Nevertheless, the dates of the inauguration have yet to be announced. King Sihamoni is expected to take the train later this month, in an effort to boost publicity and encourage the popularity of train travel.
Railway development in Cambodia has been plagued with both infrastructure problems and safety issues. Safety precautions along the train tracks still leaves much to be desired, with reports of accidents involving motor vehicles crashing into trains and people sleeping on the tracks. The cross-country rail service that linked southern coastal cities such as Sihanoukville to the capital Phnom Penh only recently resumed operations after 14 years of disuse, a result of destruction during the civil war. Even today, sections of the track from Phnom Penh to the northwestern border province of Banteay Meanchey remain unrepaired.
Eventually though, the railway link will form part of the eastern corridor of the pan-ASEAN rail link between Singapore and Chinas Kunming province. As the rest of ASEAN powers ahead with rail development plans, Cambodia still needs all the help it can get.
Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath wave their hands while walking within a railway station in Phnom Penh on Friday. (EPA photo)
PHNOM PENH - Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni on Friday rode for the first time on a passenger train service linking the capital Phnom Penh with the southwestern coastal resort of Sihanoukville that resumed earlier this year.
The king and Queen Mother Monineath Sihanouk, accompanied by Prime Minister Hun Sen and a dozen senior Cabinet members, travelled together on the Southern Line service, which resumed in April this year after a 14-year hiatus.
In a posting on Facebook, Hun Sen said one of the aims of the trip is for the king to review the latest developments of the country's railway system.
The 264-kilometre rail journey to Sihanoukville takes around seven hours.
Due to neglect and damage from decades of civil war in Cambodia which lasted until 1998, railways in the country were left in a dilapidated state and all services had been suspended by 2009 for rehabilitation.
2017 the year of improving road repair and maintenance, and promoting waterway and railway transport to reduce road accident and minimize transportation cost
On January 06, 2017 at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, H.E Senior Minister Sun Chanthol sat for an interview with TVK television network.
The interview focused on the reforms achieved by the Royal Government of Cambodia to facilitate and improve the livelihoods of citizens, new strategic directions and the railway transport sector.
H.E Senior Minister highlighted the Ministrys most recent achievements since taking office which include reducing transportation fees, launching a new Drivers License Renewal Center at AEON Mall, developing automation online systems to provide public services, a new system for the issuing of license number plates, expanded vehicle technical inspection services, disseminating information on legal vehicle modification protocols, enforcing laws against illegally modified trucks, providing traffic podiums for police for use at intersections, new vehicle ownership transfer processes and a national initiative that focuses on road safety.
Regarding the achievements within the railway sector, H.E Senior Minister mentioned that the Ministry selected the contractor, Italian-Thai Development to repair, restore and strengthen the southern line, held a groundbreaking ceremony for the rail rehabilitation from Battambang province to the Thai-Cambodian border (a total length of 112 kilometers) and inspected the railway construction site in Poipet that links our railway rails to Thailand.
The Minister also discussed the 2017 plan associated with management, maintenance and repair procedures related to improving road quality and also his plan to connect a rail link from the Special Economic Zone to the airport. He also brought up making the best use of the waterways to reduce traffic congestion and reduce transportation costs.
At the end of this interview, Mr. Sun called for and suggested that his fellow citizens and drivers of vehicles of all kinds respect road traffic laws and drive carefully, that garage owners not illegally modify vehicles that result in fatal crashes, that drivers of trucks and vehicles carrying workers not drink alcohol or take drugs and that businesses stop overloading their trucks which leads to the destruction of Cambodias roads and causes accidents.
The train service between Cambodia and Thailand, which was expected to begin operations early this year, may be delayed due to compensation issues with people living along a one-kilometer stretch of track in Poipet City.
The rail line was scheduled to be connected by the end of 2016 and officials repeatedly said the official launching ceremony would be early this year.
However, the ceremonys date has still not been revealed because the track has not been completely laid due to issues compensating the people living along it, said Transport Ministry spokesman Va Simsorya.
Laying of the track is not finished, he said. There are still issues with the resettlement of villagers.
Only one kilometer of track remains unfinished because compensation issues with people living along the rail line in Poipet have not been solved, said Mr. Simsorya.
Because of this, we cannot yet set a specific date for the official ceremony, he added. If the project is technically not finished, we cannot say anything for the moment.
The track between Cambodia and Thailand is already connected from Poipet City to Thailands Sa Kaeo province, according to the spokesman.
Transport Minister Sun Chanthol, who hopes the train service will boost trade and facilitate travel, said in December that Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Thai counterpart, Prayuth Chan-o-cha, would witness the official launching ceremony in early 2017.
After being put in service, the train from Banteay Meanchey provinces Sisophon town to the Thai border will have a maximum speed of 50 kilometers per hour.
Mr. Prayut in December promised to provide a train engine to Cambodia to be used on the train line once it is connected.
According to Mr. Simsorya, the train engine will be sent to Cambodia once the track has been completely laid.
We have heard that Thailand will give us a train engine. We already have the train carriages, but the track is not finished yet and ready for service, so how we bring the train engine in? he asked.
Economic experts have said that linkage of the two countries by rail will contribute to boosting two-way trade volume by facilitating travel and the transport of goods.
Mey Kalyan, a senior advisor to the governments Supreme National Economic Council, said previously he was optimistic the linkage would attract investors from Thailand to Cambodia because it would be cheaper to transport goods.
When the railway is in operation, it will boost efficiency of the transport of goods and agricultural products because of low transport fees, he said. Foreign investors like the Japanese and [South] Koreans may come to Poipet because Cambodia has cheaper labor than Thailand.
The government has set March next year as the date for the ground-breaking ceremony for the building of the rail link to Phnom Penh International Airport and Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone (PPSEZ).
The projects are intended to facilitate transport of passengers, workers, and goods.
The date was revealed at a meeting between the Ministry of Public Works and Transport with the French Development Agency Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) Royal Railway, State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, Cambodia Airports, and PPSEZ last Thursday.
In the meeting, Minister of Public Works Sun Chanthol called on Cambodia Airports and the Royal Railway to work closely together to construct the railway link to the airport.
Last December, the Ministry of Public Works announced the airport and PPSEZ railway links, based on the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville railway, which runs parallel to the two areas.
The projects aim to take passengers away from traffic congestion in the city, carry goods in and out of the airport and PPSEZ to the sea ports, and carry workers to PPSEZ.
Va Simsorya, spokesman at the Public Works Ministry, said the meeting was to focus on the project and to specifically deal with the construction of the connection between the existing railway and the new ones to the airport and PPSEZ, and to agree on the location of the rail track.
The budget for the project would be from the national budget because the railway link is connected to the existing railway and belongs to the government.
Prime Minister Hun Sen, left, and his Thai counterpart Prayut Chan-o-cha plan to inaugurate the Cambodia to Thailand train service. Reuters
Government officials are working to settle compensation claims for 50 families living alongside a kilometer of rail track in Poipet town, to allow a rail link between Cambodia and Thailand to open by the middle of the year.
Ly Borin, under-secretary of state at the Transport Ministry and director of Cambodias Railway Restoration Project, said officials are trying to speed up efforts to relocate the villagers so the Battambang to Poipet service can launch on schedule. The track links Poipet City to Thailands Sa Kaeo province.
Villagers living in the area have been asked to submit legal documents for compensation, Mr. Borin said, but refused to reveal how much the people will receive.
Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Thai counterpart Prayut Chan-o-cha plan to inaugurate the service by taking the train together when Cambodia hosts the Cambodia-Thailand Joint Cabinet Meeting in July or August.
But Mr. Borin said the compensation issue could mean work on the Cambodian side of the track is not finished in time.
If the issue isn't solved completely by July or August, the two prime ministers will not be able to get the train together as planned, Mr. Borin said. I am not sure if we're going to be ready for them to shake hands on the train, because a lot of work remains to be done.
Once the rail line from Battambang to Poipet is fully restored, government will start work on tracks from Battambang to Pursat province, Mr. Borin said, adding that limited budget meant the work had to be staggered.
The agreement to link railways between the two countries was made by Mr. Hun Sen and Mr. Prayut in late 2015 and aims to boost trade and travel. It is hoped it will increase bilateral trade to up to $15 billion by 2020.
An estimated $17 million was needed to restore poor track conditions in the northwest, Transport Minister Sun Chanthol said last May.
Economic analysts have said the railway between Cambodia and Thailand will improve trade, cut transport costs, and facilitate easier travel for people in both countries.
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