The Thai Minister of Transport will visit Laos at the end of this month to discuss the construction of a railway connection between Thailand and the Laos-China Railway.
Bangkok Post reports that Saksayam Chidchob, Minister of Transport, will visit Laos to talk with the Lao government and entrepreneurs regarding the construction of a railway from Nongkhai Province to Vientiane Capital.
Other Thai ministries involved in the discussion, aside from the Thai Ministry of Transport, will be the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of Public Health.
The Minister of Transport hopes that the visit aims to study areas along the route for transport and infrastructure construction.
As part of the construction project, a bridge will be built across the Mekong.
“The Department of Highways is assigned to design the second bridge crossing the Mekong at Nong Khai-Vientiane. The research process will cost Thai Baht 10 million and take approximately six months to complete,” said Mr. Saksayam.
He said that the bridge should facilitate trans-border travel via a dual-track and high-speed rail crossing that should also accommodate vehicles.
The new railway station, Khamsavath station, is part of an extension of the cross-border Laos-Thailand Railway connecting Thailand’s Nong Khai with Thanaleng Station in Vientiane Capital.
This will allow passengers to travel from Thailand to central Vientiane.
