He carried on by saying the most significant progress had been made on the cross-border tunnel from Mohan in China to Boten. Although, some tunnels have been bored to significant lengths, there is a long way to go as the blueprints show a total of 75 tunnels along the route from Boten to the Lao capital city of Vientiane.
On its route south, the line will link Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng. Apart from a very short stretch of line from Nong Khai in Thailand to Thanaleng, the 414km line is a first for Laos. Thanaleng is close to Vientiane and the plan is to eventually link the two sets of tracks.
Differences in track widths need to be ironed out first. Thai trains run on one-meter gauge tracks whereas the new China-Laos link is being built to the international standard of 1,435-millimetres.
12GO ASIA’s travel analysts are watching developments on the new railway line closely. When ground broke on the project on Christmas Day, ceremony attendees were told overland journey times from Kunming to Vientiane would be reduced to 10 hours.
Full steam ahead for China to Laos railway construction
News in Asia
Contractors in northern Laos say work on boring tunnels for a new railway line from China is progressing in leaps and bounds. In Luang Namtha Province, spokesperson Chanthachone Keolakhone says three tunnels on the route are up to 50 metres through mountains.