Higher costs expected in Cambodia stretch of Trans-Asia Railway

Earth Times
http://www.earthtimes.org/

Tue, 18 Aug 2009
Author : DPA

Phnom Penh - A key link of the Cambodian stretch of the Trans-Asia Railway, which will eventually connect Singapore with Kunming in China, will need extra cash to fund its construction, local media reported Monday. The section of the railway examined in a recent study will run 255 kilometres east from near the capital Phnom Penh and connect to Vietnam's railway at Loc Ninh.

The feasibility study by the China Railway Group estimates this stretch will cost between 500 million and 600 million US dollars, the Phnom Penh Post newspaper reported.

The study blamed the higher-than-expected cost on the number of bridges needed to span the Mekong and other rivers between Phnom Penh and Vietnam. It stated that two bridges spanning 1,500 metres and 1,000 metres in length would cost up to 266 million dollars. Smaller bridges would add another 120 million dollars.

"Neither [China nor Cambodia] will want to go it alone at that price," a government source told the newspaper. "If it goes ahead, it will have to find additional funding, and given that it will benefit the entire region, it might find support from the [Asian Development Bank] or the World Bank."

Cambodia's railways are in a woeful state, having suffered from decades of war and under-investment.

Paul Power, an adviser to the Cambodian government, told the newspaper that the economic gains for the kingdom would be substantial.

"It makes Cambodia the hub of transportation between China and Singapore," he said, adding that the main benefit would come from transporting freight rather than passengers.

The other stretch of rail which connects western Cambodia with the capital is being upgraded by Australian firm Toll Holdings. That project will link the capital to Sihanoukville Port in southern Cambodia, as well as linking Phnom Penh with the Thai border.