Thailand is to increase freight train services to Laos amid the opening of the Laos-China Railway.
Bangkok Post reports that the State Railway of Thailand says freight train services between Nong Khai and Laos will be increased to 24 round trips per day over the next five years to manage increased cargo traffic after the opening of the Laos-China Railway.
The Thai state-run railway currently operates four daily round trips for cargo and another four round trips for passengers between Nong Khai in Thailand and Thanaleng in Laos.
Thailand’s State Railway Governor, Nirut Maneephan, said the country’s state railway can take advantage of growth by expanding cargo rail connections with Laos from Nong Khai.
The railway currently operates four round trips a day but plans to increase these to ten by the end of the year.
“From 2023 to 2025, the number of freight round trips will be boosted to 16 a day and to 24 by 2026,” he said.
“Each train will comprise 25 carriages,” Mr. Nirut was quoted as saying.
In addition, the State Railway of Thailand plans to develop a cargo storage area at Nong Khai Railway Station and a container yard at Thanalaeng Station in Vientiane Capital.
This would enable cargo to be transported by train from the Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri to Nong Khai with onward delivery to China via Thanalaeng Station.
Laos and Thailand first launched a freight train service across the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge between the Vientiane Capital and Nong Khai in 2019.
