Announcing news of the deal, Cambodia Transport Ministry spokesperson Ly Borin said the Cambodians would concentrate on finishing the missing link of track from Sisophon to the Thai border town of Poipet. He added that the provisional completion date for this was now the middle of next year.
After that, the contractors will run test services on the line before collaborating with their Thai counterparts on launching services all the way from Phnom Penh to Bangkok. The Asian Development Bank allocated a budget to establish a railway link between the two capital cities back in 2010, but the project has been beset by problems.
One of the most important was the fact that the appropriation of land for the tracks did not comply with the bank’s own criteria. Cambodian Chamber of Commerce advisor Ho Vandy said a railway service connecting the countries would offer tourists and goods transportation firms additional options.
The only overland option between the two countries at present is bus. There is a twice daily train service from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet. The latter faces across the border to Poipet. 12GO ASIA sells online tickets for these routes plus many others across the Southeast Asian region.
Thailand Cambodia agree to expedite railway link
News in Asia
Thailand and Cambodia last week agreed to expedite construction of a railway track to link the two countries. Agreement was reached during a state visit to Thailand by Cambodian prime-minister Hun Sen.