Chinas Railway for Laos: From Boten to Vientiane - The Maps

Update 16.8.2018

Construction work for the railway from Chinas border in Boten (磨丁市) to Vientiane, the capital city of Laos, has advanced. Follow the updates here.


Let's start with the Boten-Vientiane-Railway Google Map by #treasuresoflaos with latest updates:


A list of all planned station has been published by Wisarut. This blogger has matched it with a list published by Bounthone Sanasinh:

0. km Zero at Lao - China Border at Lao - China Friendship Tunnel (友谊隧道)
1. Boten (磨丁个车站, ສະຖານີບໍແຕນ); the Southern end of Friendship tunnels - km 3 + 020
2. Na Teuy (纳堆个车站, ສະຖານີນາເຕີຍ) km 15+400 2
3. Na Mor (纳磨个车站, ສະຖານີນາໝໍ້) km 30+940
4. Na Thong (那通个车站, ສະຖານີນາທອງ); km 40 + 675
5. Muong Xai Station (孟塞个车站, ສະຖານີເມືອງໄຊ) the provincial capital of Oudomsay province - km 69 + 550
6. Ban Na Khok Station (班纳科个车站, ສະຖານີບ້ານນາກອກ)
7. Muong Nga (孟阿火车站, ສະຖານີເມືອງງາ) km 115 + 720
8. Huoi Han Nga Station (会汉河 个车站, ສະຖານີຫ້ວຍຫັນງາ)
9. Luang Prabang (琅勃拉邦个车站, ສະຖານີຫລວງພະບາງ) - km 170 + 200
10. Xieng Ngeun Station (相嫩个车站, ສະຖານີຊຽງເງີນ) - southern suburb of Luang Prabang - km 179 + 150
11. Sala Patu Station (沙拉巴土个车站, ສະຖານີສາລາພາທູ) km 211 + 620
12. Muong Kasi (孟卡西 个车站, ສະຖານີເມືອງກາສີ) - km 240 + 090
13. Ban Phatang Station(班帕当 个车站, ສະຖານີບ້ານພາຕັ້ງ) - km 268 + 250
14. Vang Vieng (万荣 个车站, ສະຖານີວັງວຽງ) - tourist spot - km 285 + 100
15. Wang Khi station (万基个车站, ສະຖານີວັງຂີ) - km 312 + 175
16. Phonh Hong (丰洪个车站, ສະຖານີໂພນໂຮງ) - Provincial Capital of Vieng Chan - km 344 + 575
17. Ban Phonh Sung (班芬送个车站, ສະຖານີບ້ານໂພນສູງ) km 374+650
18. Vientiane Neua - (万象北个车站, ສະຖານີວຽງຈັນເໜືອ) Northern Vieng Chan capital - km 390 + 050
19. Vientiane (象北 个车站, ສະຖານີວຽງຈັນໃຕ້) - km 408 + 240 - Lao National University of Laos at Ban Don Noun, Viengchan Capital
22. Vientiane Tai (万象南 个车站, ສະຖານີວຽງຈັນໃຕ້) - clearly the station near National Stadium at Lak 16 at km 412 + 300 - not in the list of starting yet since this has been terminated at km 409+000
23. Thanaleng East (塔拉能东 ท่านาแล้งตะวันออก) - clearly the station near Tha Nalaeng station at km 425+000 - not in the list of starting yet since this has been terminated at km 409+000


Maps published in an early stage of planning:

Line from border between Laos and China at Boten (Map 1)

Detail of Line at Boten (Map2)


(Map 3)

Line west of Oudomsay airport (Map 4)



Line south of Oudomsay (Map 5)

Line near Luang Prabang (Map 6)

Line south of Luang Prabang< (Map 7)br> The line crosses N13 north of Nam Ngum Lake, south of Vang Vieng (Map 8)

The line follows N13 west of Nam Ngum Lake (Map 9)


North of Vientiane the line follows N13 national road (Map 10)


The line crosses the Mekong and the border to Thailand at Nong Khai, Vientiane and its airport at the left (Map 11)


Source of the maps: 新建铁路磨丁至万象线线路平 Boten Vientiane Railway Line
. See this map also in this video.


See also this map by designforconservation.org
. And see the line on this Youtube-Visualisation.


Planned is an electrified single track (standard track gauge) with a distance of 427,7 km. There will be 162 bridges with a total distance of 68.093 km, 72 tunnels with the distance of 183.978 km. Maximum speed for cargo will be 120 kph, maximum speed for passenger trains from Boten to Vang Vieng will be 160 kph, from Vang Vieng to Vientiane capital 200 kph. 33 stations are planned, but first only 21 stations will be built. These will allow trains passing each other. 11 stations will offer passenger services.

7 major tunnels are planned:
Lao - China Friendship tunnel (友谊隧道 and 玉磨铁路友谊隧道): 9,68 km, 2,51 km on Lao side of border while 7,17 km on Chinese side. Start of construction in June 2016 by China Railway Second Bureau.
Kong Lang tunnel (空琅村隧道, 8150 meter)
Wa Nu Mountain (努瓦山隧道, 8185 meter)
Phu Kluea (福格村隧道, 8880 meter)
Ka (卡村隧道, 8005 meter)
Sen tunnel (森村隧道, 9405 meter)
La Meng tunnel (拉孟山隧道, 8055 meter)

According to the plan, there will be 11 stations for passenger use. 3 will be built in Oudomxay's Namor, Xay and Nga districts. 2 more stations will be built in Luang Prabang and Xieng-ngeun districts in Luang Prabang province. 3 will be constructed in Kasy, Vangvieng and Phonhong districts in Vientiane province and the main station will be in Vientiane. A goods transport depot will also be built in Vientiane.

More details here.

The total project cost is estimated at 38.7 billion yuan (over USD 6 billion), which is about 90.6 million yuan (approx. USD 14 million) per kilometre. The Lao government has obtained a loan of about USD 480 million from China to pay its share of the investment cost. Somsavat Lengsavad, Laotian deputy prime minister, said the Chinese government has earlier offered Laos a loan with a three-percent interest rate, adding that Laotian government also asked the Chinese government to reduce the rate. He did not mention what the agreed-upon interest rate was. Laos will back the loan with five of its potash mines. Somsavat said after calculation, Laos has determined that it will be able to pay it back to China within five years instead of 30 years as Laos has five mines.


Construction contracts were awarded as follows:

1. Boten - Meuang Xay (Oudomxay, 88.65 km): China Railway No.5 Engineering Group (owned by China Railway Group Limited)
2. Meuang Xay (Oudomxay) - Nam Seu Bridge (68.8 km, including Mueang Xai station yard): China Railway International Group (owned by China Railway Group Limited)
3. Nam Seu Bridge - Phou Sanen Hill (65.6 km, including Bridge across Sue river): China Railway Baju Group Company (owned by China Railway Group Limited)
4. Phou Sanen Hill - Ban Pa Village (61.49 km): Sinohydro Group
5. Ban Pa Village - Phonhong (79.5 km): Power Construction Corporation of China
6. Phonhong - Vientiane (65.7 km, (including Phone Hong station yard): China Railway Erju Co., Ltd (owned by China Railway Group Limited)


See also Map China Laos Railway


See video of the line

Golden Boten City has been closed down - will it wake up again with help from China?

Picture by sama sama - massa
Chinese shops along the road in Boten

In Oudomxay province, a mountainous region south of the Chinese border in northern Laos you can see the effects of foreign investment by Chinese business in Laos, notes chinadialogue.net. In 2002, the Lao government earmarked the region for development including hotels, casinos and commercial centres. Sitting on the Chinese border next to Route 3, the town of Boten (磨丁市) was designated a Special Economic Zone. And the big plans led to a big name: "Boten Golden City". The 21 square kilometers on which the town sits have been leased for 30 years by a Hong Kong-registered company, led by Wong Man Suen, with an option to extend this lease by another 60 years, as Asia Times Online noted. The main road, was paved. Chinese workers poured into the Boten Special Economic Zone as construction sites and towering hotels sprang up amid the verdant hills. Dominating the landscape of Boten is the 271-room Royal Jinlun hotel and casino complex, and there were Chinese restaurants, cell-phone outlets, duty free shops and stalls selling cheap Chinese products. It was illegal for Laotians to gamble, in was also illegal for Chinese in China, but Chinese could simply walk across the border without a visa. The town worked on Beijing time, accepted only Chinese currency and spoke only Mandarin Chinese. Electricity and telephone lines ran from China, and electric sockets adhered to Chinese standards. The growing numbers of prostitutes that patrolled the streets were all Chinese, as were the beer and the cigarettes (see pictures by Midnitemapper).

But in April 2011 the casino was shut down after Chinese authorities had urged their neighbors in Laos to do so. This after media reports that Chinese gamblers were held hostage in Boten for unpaid debts. Most shop and restaurant owners then packed up and left, the same did a Thai transvestite show and the Chinese prostitutes. "The enclave’s economy seems to have collapsed just as the builders hit their stride with a new high-rise hotel and a shopping centre bristling with columns in the classical style", reports Lone Rider. Ron Gluckman wrote in Forbes Asia Magazine that the owners of Golden Boten City were looking out for new investors.

In March 2012 Vientiane Times reported that an unnamed Chinese investor had taken over and that Golden Boten City would become a casino-free zone and that the Lao goverment changed the area from a Special Economic Zone to a Specific Economic Zone. The move gives the Luang Namtha provincial administration greater power to control social and security issues. Officials said the new investor wanted to transform Boten Golden City into a tourism destination showcasing the Lue culture. The Lue ethnic group lives along the Lao, Thai and Chinese borders. The investor is said to have put the Lue culture on stage in Xishuangbana in Yunnan province (China) and in Chiang Mai province of Thailand.

In April 2012 came the news, that the Lao government signed a new agreement with Yunnan Hai Cheng Industrial Group Stock Co. and - surprisingly - again Wong Man Suen’s Hong Kong Fuk Hing Travel Entertainment Group. The investors are said to invest 500 Millions US-Dollars.

But until now not much has changed in Boten. Jack Kurtz, a photojournalist based in Bangkok, travelled to Oudomxay last month to document the effect of China’s investment on the landscape and local people. He found sparkling new shopping centres empty of customers – the goods are too expensive for the local people – and a landscape dotted with cranes, construction and trucks. The development, particularly the paving of the road, has transformed life for many in the province, drawing people down from homes in the mountains to earn a living from tourists or truck drivers who frequent the road. See Jack Kurtz about Oudomxay.

Picture by Prince Roy
The Royal Hotel in Boten