Trip in a local train (green train) from Vang Vieng to Kasi with sights
Just in these days the blogger Nomadic Notes has published his review of the operations of China-Laos-Railway inside Laos: A review of the Vientiane to Boten train. The first thing that stood out for him was in Vientiane "the station name is only shown in Lao and Chinese". But he found signs and announcements inside the station in Lao, Chinese and English. He discovered no food shops inside, just some food vendors outside the station and a vending machine inside. At the toilets he discovered the absence of toilet paper.
Vientiane City 2 Bus Service has startet a bus route from Morning Market to the Vientiane Railway Station of #chinalaosrailway. It leaves Morning Market at 6.30 am.
@jorgeuef on instagram shows us this video, starting at Vientiane station:
#chinalaosrailway right now operates two kinds of services: Express trains, which serve only the following stations: Vientiane, Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang, Muang Xai, Na Teuy and Boten. And local trains stopping at all stations, which are in service for the moment. Laos-China Railway Info has published the timetable. Here we learn, that the local trains serve the stations of Phonhong, Kasi, Muang Nga and Na Mor. Here we can also find the chart of the ticket prices. Tickets are only sold at the stations or at offices in Vientiane and Luang Prabang, notes futuresoutheastasia.com.
Ride the Laos China Rail (Vientiane to Nateuy) on Youtube:
@miwmiw.05 on instagram shows Phonhong Railway Station (Lao: ສະຖານີລົດໄຟຄວາມໄວສູງໂພນໂຮງ):
@joy_sonyotha is posing in front of Vang Vieng Railway Station:
@deechai_1982 on instagram shows Luang Prabang Railway station:
On June 1 the Namor Railway station in Oudomxay province has been opened.
Since its launch in December 2021, the China-Laos Railway has handled over 3.09 million passenger trips as of May 23, the Chinese state agency Xinhua reported. Some 2.71 million passenger trips were registered in the railway's China section starting from Kunming, provincial capital of the country's Southwest Yunnan province, in which 23.5 pairs of passenger trains were operated per day on average, according to the China Railway Kunming Group Co Ltd. The amount of passenger trips on the railway's Laos section has increased steadily to reach 380,000, with nearly 5,000 recorded on the peak day.
The China-Laos-Railway has been built to connect Kunming in China with Vientiane in Laos. But due to the Covid-19-pandemic passengers can still not travel across the border from and to China. So Laos still misses the income from Chinese tourists. Only freight trains can use the whole railway line.
To improve convenience in freight transportation Thabok Thanaleng Co. Ltd has invested in the construction of a 1.2 kilometer rail line from the Laos-Thai Railway to Thabok Thanaleng, while the Laos-China Railway Company has constructed a new line from Vientiane Southern Station to Thanaleng, covering a distance of 2.8 kilometers. From 26 June, after both routes have completed construction, freight will be moved from the Thai line to the Laos-China Railway line at the Thanaleng Dry Port. Freight stations have opened at South Vientiane, Nateuy, Vangvieng, Luang Prabang and Phonhong to facilitate the shipment of goods.
For Laos rising debts are the consequence of the investment in the China-Laos-Railway. The annual amount of debt-service payment has risen from US$1.2 billion in 2018 to US$1.4 billion this year. This has been revealed by Minister of Finance Bounchom Ubonpaseuth, addressing National Assembly members on June 20. He assured that the government would not allow the country to slide into default.
Lately Laos has not only been strucked by Covid-19-Pandemic but also by rising fuel prizes due to the Russian war in Ukraine. Therefore Asia Times has published an article with the title Perfect storm of turbulence for indebted little Laos. It said: "Slow Covid recovery, rampant inflation and unsustainable debts are shaking the credibility of nation’s communist rulers."
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