A feasibility study for a railway linking Vientiane with Vung Ang seaport in Vietnam has begun, reports Thai PBS. The study of the 550km-long rail line is set to take about two years to complete, scheduled from December 2015 to December 2017. The study is being conducted with a US$3 million grant from Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). The project’s section in Laos will be about 450 km long, while the section in Vietnam was reported to be about 119 km long. The Vientiane–Thakhaek–Muya rail project is technically known as the A3 rail project.
As Vientiane Times reports, the Vientiane-Muya-Railway should link with the planned Vientiane-Boten-Railway. And there are more projects: In 2012, the Lao government signed an agreement with a Malaysian investor, Giant Rail Company Limited, to develop the Savan-Lao Bao rail project linking central Savannakhet province of Laos with the Laos-Vietnam Dansavan-Lao Bao border gate over a distance of about 220km. This project is still in the preparation stage for construction. In addition, an initial survey was completed on the Vientiane-Pakxe-Chongmek project some 452 km in length connecting Vangtao-Chongmek Lao-Thai border checkpoint in the southern province of Champassak with the Savan-Lao Bao railway project.
