More than 250 senior officials representing government bodies and the media have learnt about key documents on the Laos-China railway construction project which is designed to connect Vientiane with the Chinese border.
The documents were disseminated by Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines Mr. Lattanamanuy Khounnivong, who is also Head of the Coordinating Committee of the Laos-China Railway Project.
The objective of the document dissemination was to provide the senior officials and media representatives with a broader knowledge of the Laos-China Railway Project so that they can convey this information to their organizations as the project is of great importance to the cooperation between the Lao and Chinese governments and of the great interest to the Lao people.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Laos-China Railway Project took place in December 2015. The project is scheduled to be completed within five years.
The railway will have a total length of 427.2 km, stretching from the Laos-China border to Vientiane Capital.
The railway is designed as a standard Class 1 single track with an international standard gauge width of 1.435 m.
The designed speed for the passenger trains will be 160 km/h, while the speed of 200 km/h will be applied in flat terrain areas between Vang Vieng and Vientiane Capital. The traction system will be electric.
There will be a total of 33 stations including 21 by-pass stations, 11 passenger stations and 1 main freight station.
The major construction activities include 175.5 km of subgrade, 170 bridges with total length of 69.2 km, and 72 tunnels with total length of 183.9 km, the longest being about 9.5 km.
The total estimated project cost is almost US$6 billion, which is about US$13.6 million per kilometre.
China will be responsible for 70 per cent of the total investment, while Laos will take the remainder.
Once the project is completed, the railway will supplement Laos’ vision of turning itself from a land-locked to a land-linked country.
Source: KPL
