Cambodia dreams of sale pan-Asia rail connection
Cambodia dreams of sale pan-Asia rail connection
By Pip Wood
PHNOM PENH (DPA): Train travel in Cambodia is an erratic, slow and occasionally dangerous affair.
Train passengers are subject to ambush by the Khmer Rouge -- as was the case with three Western backpackers who were kidnapped and subsequently killed by the rebels in 1994. This prompted a government ban on foreigners traveling by train.
Mine-detonating carriages on which passengers can ride precede each train. "The first car on the train is the most important because it protects against mine accidents which would damage the engine," said Sun Kantrea, a rail official in Phnom Penh.
"The strength of the front car is greater than that of most mine explosions, so passengers riding on the front car are rarely killed when explosions happen."
Cambodia's rail network consists of two lines leading out of the capital.
The first, a 337-kilometer line designed by French engineers and built between 1929 and 1943, runs northwest to close to the Thai border, passing through territory in which government troops and Khmer Rouge guerrillas are engaged in a long war of attrition.
The second, a 264-kilometer line constructed in the 1960s, runs southwest from the capital to the deep-water port of Sihanoukville.
Train traffic in the northeast is sporadic, contingent in large part on the state of the track.
While government troops have been deployed to guard the track in Battambang province's Mong Russei district, the Khmer Rouge are still able to blow up portions of the line on a regular basis.
"Every time we repair the line in Mong Russei district, the Khmer Rouge simply blow it up again," said Pick Kimsreang, director of the Royal Railway of Cambodia.
But security concerns aside, many Cambodians choose to travel along the country's pot-holed highways because train travel is simply too slow. "I believe that our train speeds are the slowest in the world," Reth Boeun said.
Trains in Cambodia travel at an average speed of 25 kilometers per hour, which means that a trip from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville takes some eight hours. A taxi ride to the same destination takes only three hours.
Major link
But all this could change, albeit slowly, as Cambodia is slated to become a major link in a regional rail system linking Singapore with southern China.
A Malaysian-coordinated study is currently underway to explore the feasibility of a network which could result in Cambodian train passengers traveling at a comparatively break-neck speed.
Pich Kimsreang said the study is considering two new rail lines running east into Vietnam and one running north into Laos.
"Planning for this network began 30 years ago, then was abandoned because of war in the region, Pich Kinsreang said, but added that while Cambodia being connected to its future ASEAN partners would be ideal, in reality it would be "at least a decade" for construction to begin on the line towards Vientiene.
Pich Kimsreang said that his government's first priority is to reconstruct the war-ravaged rail line connecting the town of Sisophon with the town of Poipet, on the Thai-Cambodian border.
This 40-kilometer stretch is the link that could allow passengers and cargo to move by train from Phnom Penh to Bangkok and beyond. In Cambodia's favor is the fact that its track gauge -- one metre -- is compatible with track width in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos.
The government's second priority is to see a line constructed linking Cambodia with eastern neighbor and long-time adversary Vietnam.
Pich Kimsreang said two links are being considered; the first running directly from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City, the second heading north from the capital and then veering east through Cambodia's Kompong Chan province towards the town of Loc Ninh, 20 kilometers inside Vietnam.
Pich Kimsreang says that the Cambodian government favors the construction of the Loc Ninh route as it is keen to see exports from rubber-rich Kompong Cham head directly into Vietnam and then north to Hanoi and into China.
"I hope that once the feasibility study is complete at the end of this year, many countries will give technical and financial assistance to help us build the line. It will be very expensive," he said.
Pich Kimsreang said a rail link to Loc Ninh "will be crucial in linking Indochina to the rest of the world in terms of economics and trade".
However, until the dream of a trans-Asian rail network becomes a reality, Cambodian passengers such as Chey Sarun, a 53-year-old merchant from Takeo province, must make the most of the existing system.
"I do not mind traveling on the (mine-detecting) carriage. There is a very good breeze up there, and it is easy for me to get on and off the train with my goods," he said.