Cambodia to Start Restoring Decades-Old Railway System

Sunday, 17 February 2008
Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)

Phnom Penh, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) - Cambodia will hold a ceremony on Monday in Siri Sophon, Banteay Meanchey province, next to the border with Thailand, to restore its decades-old national railway system, an official said here on Saturday.

Budget for the rehabilitation is from grant aid and loan package of the Asia Development Bank (ADB), said Ou Pheak Von Mony, director general of the Royal Cambodian Railway Company.

Upon completion, the railway will become part of the Asia network which links Singapore and China, national television network TVK quoted the official as saying.

The ceremony will be presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen and visiting ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda, said an ADB press release.

The total cost stands at 73 million US dollars, with 42 million US dollars of loan from ADB, 13 million US dollars of grant aid from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC), 15.2 million US dollars from the Cambodian government, and 2.8 million US dollars of grant aid for iron materials from Malaysia, it said.

The project aims to support Cambodia's economic development and strengthen sub-regional integration by enabling cost-effective and efficient railway transport within Cambodia and between Cambodia and Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, it said.

Access to efficient railway services would substantially improve the efficiency of Cambodia's transport system by enabling efficient and safe railway transport for heavy, bulky, and hazardous cargo, such as cement, containers, and fuel, which are currently carried by more expensive and less safe road haulage, it added.

The 264-km Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville route and the 386-km Phnom Penh-Poipet route were respectively built in 1960 and 1931. They are the only two railways of the kingdom, currently providing transportation for trains at a speed as low as 15 km an hour.

The Asia railway network is expected to run 5,500 km, linking Singapore and China and including Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam en route.

Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific