BCN-11 Cambodia restores railway link to Thailand after 45 years

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ZCZC

BCN-11

CAMBODIA-THAILAND-ECONOMY

Cambodia restores railway link to Thailand after 45 years

PHNOM PENH, July 5, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Cambodia on Wednesday reopened the
final stretch of a railway running from the capital Phnom Penh to the border
with neighbouring Thailand, the first time the line has been operational in
45 years.

The Asian Development Bank provided $13 million in 2009 to rebuild the
missing link which aims to slash travel time between the two countries and
boost trade.

Cambodian transport minister Sun Chanthol said a train ran Wednesday
morning from the northwestern province of Pursat to Phnom Penh, the last
remaining section of the track between the two countries to be finished.

“This is a historic day for our nation,” Sun Chanthol said.

Cambodia and Thailand still have to hash out an agreement on trains
crossing the border but Sun Chanthol said the two countries hoped to strike a
deal soon.

Much of Cambodia’s railways — built by the French during their colonial
occupation — were damaged by years of bitter conflict that engulfed the
country during the Cold War era.

A 48-kilometre portion of the railway near the border town of Poipet was
destroyed by war in 1973.

The rest of link to Phnom Penh had been suspended for more than a decade
due to the poor condition of the track.

The Southeast Asian country has more than 600 kilometres (375 miles) of
traintrack extending from its northern border with Thailand down to the
southern coast.

BSS/AFP/HR/1025