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.