'We can tell you for sure is that the railway will be officially in operation at the end of this month,' Ly Borin, director of the railway department of Cambodia, commented.
Currently, on the Thai side, it is possible to travel by train from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet, a town sitting close to the border with Cambodia. There are two trains a day heading to/from the border: at 5.55 am and 1.05 pm to Aranyaprathet and 6.40 am and 1.55 pm to Bangkok, each trip taking slightly under 6 hours.
Similarly, on the Cambodian side, Phnom Pehn is connected by rail to Poipet, a Cambodian border town. The Phnom Penh–Poipet railway line got a major facelift and was put in operation in 2018 with Poipet–Sisophon and Sisophon–Battambang stretched opened in April, followed by Battambang–Pursat stretch ready in May and Pursat–Phnom Penh – in July. In October 2018, there was an upgrade of several railway bridges on the main line and since January, 2019, the line functions normally. Currently, there is one train a day in each direction leaving at 7 am both from Phnom Penh and Poipet arriving at 6.45 pm at either destination thus covering the whole distance in about 12 hours.
Cambodian and Thai Railway Systems to Be Linked on April, 22
News in Asia
The official inauguration of the link between Cambodian and Thai railway systems is expected to take place on April, 22. The two railway systems are already connected and it is only the official launch that lacks to get cross-border trains started.