Once the missing link is reinstated, it will allow train services to run all the way from the Cambodian seaside resort of Sihanoukville, through the capital city of Phnom Penh and on to Sisophon and Poipet. Thailand is in the process of relaying tracks from its side of the frontier at Ban Khlong Luek to Aranyaprathet.
The completed through rail line will enable passenger and goods trains to travel between Phnom Penh and the Thai capital of Bangkok. The last international trains to run between the countries were in the 1940s. Service was cancelled when the reigning French Indochinese government tore up the tracks.
Phnom Penh to Battambang trains ran until 2009. Services were suspended as the tracks and rolling stock became too dilapidated. Royal Railways holds the franchise for train services in Cambodia and three months ago launched limited services between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville.
Cambodia vows to finish Thai rail link before New Year
News in Asia
A senior Cambodian cabinet minister says the final stretch of a rail link to Thailand will be completed by the end of 2016. Public Works and Transport minister Sun Chanthol stated that the final 6.5kms to the border town of Poipet could even be ready for testing by October.