Restoring the Kingdom's rails

Thursday, 06 May 2010 15:00
Ellie Dyer

Renovation project sees resurrection of capital’s rail station, track network

NEW life is being breathed into Phnom Penh Railway Station as a multi-million-dollar project to restore Cambodia’s decrepit rail system gathers steam.

Formally a graveyard for rusting Soviet-era locomotives, the site has been transformed into a hive of activity over the past few months as Toll Royal Railways (TRR) pours an estimated US$80,000 into renovating the Kingdom’s trains and freight stations.

Six locomotives – some armoured with thick metal sheeting and bearing the scars of Cambodia’s long civil war, a wood-fired steam engine, a passenger train and even the Royal carriage – are being refurbished in preparation for the launch of Cambodia’s new-look railway system in October this year, according to TRR officials speaking Wednesday.

The Kingdom’s rail system is undergoing a complete overhaul with $141.1 million in funding from the Asian Development Bank, AusAID and Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Companies (OPEC). It is hoped that the project will boost trade by improving the Kingdom’s railways, which were built in 1929 and last upgraded in the 1960s before civil war damaged much of the network.

“Cambodia’s railway was thought to be one of the worst networks in the world,” said David Kerr, TRR’s chief executive officer, speaking from his office nestled behind Phnom Penh’s iconic station, which opened in 1932.

According to anecdotal evidence, Kerr said, the last train to run the 264-kilometre track to Sihanoukville from Phnom Penh this year took 28 hours to reach its destination. The new service should take only eight.

But, the task of restoring the capital’s station to become a hub for a regular train service is huge.

“It was like a jungle when we first came here,” said Toll Royal Railways Chief Operation Officer John Guiry on Wednesday, wandering past rusting skeletons of freight carriages jumbled in heaps to the side of the railway site, which stretches for 4.5 kilometres.

Mountains of disused train parts were left to decay in the open, he said, as Cambodia ran a limited service, which, according to previous Post reports, garnered just $1.5 million in revenue in 2008.

Restoring relics
However, as the railway project gathers pace, time and effort are being put into the enormous task of restoring ageing models from the Czech Republic, France and Russia to run on tracks, now being transformed across the country by development partners.

“Most of these trains are 40 to 50 years old. Many have been derailed or seen combat during the Khmer Rouge regime. We are removing armour plating,” Guiry said, pointing to the bullet holes in one locomotive.

Australia-based Toll has teamed up with the Royal Group in order to carry out the station project. So far, more than $1 million has been spent improving the Phnom Penh Railway Station site, which had fallen into disrepair. Copious white ant colonies have been wiped out, and more than 2,000 square metres of rubbish have been removed from the area.

Officials with TRR, which hopes to employ up to 670 people in the future, say the project remains on schedule.

Renovated trains are being test-run on 118 kilometres of track from Phnom Penh to Touk Meas, which services Kampot’s cement industry, and preliminary runs are imminent on parts of a 338-kilometre stretch of track leading to Battambang and [Poipet], Kerr said.

Surveys are also under way on the much-anticipated link between Vietnam and Cambodia, which has been billed as bridging a gap in the proposed Trans-Asia Railway (TAR) linking Singapore to Kunming, the capital of southwestern China’s Yunnan province.

Passenger service
The feasibility of running domestic passenger trains – one of which has been refurbished – is also being investigated, and there is an intention to protect Phnom Penh’s historic station from further damage in the rainy season. The wood-burning steam engine is being repaired for “special occasions”, according to Kerr and Guiry.

Limited freight service is set to begin in October, with trains from the capital running to Sihanoukville and Battambang in May 2011 and May 2012, respectively.

However, despite the progress, concerns remain.

Toll believes that for the railway to become tenable it needs direct access to the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, which is set for renovation. Kerr called the project a “dead duck” if the link isn’t made, as without it the cost of freight transportation would spiral “dramatically”.

According to Kerr, the move is being stalled by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is funding the port project.

“Negotiations are in progress between all parties,” Kerr added.

JICA representative Iwai Masaaki and an office spokeswoman declined to comment Wednesday. The spokeswoman stated that queries regarding the railway should not be directed at the organisation.

The future of the thousands of villagers who live in the “corridor of impact” around the railway is also being considered. According to a document produced by the government’s inter-ministerial resettlement committee, about 2,629 households live in close proximity to the railway tracks affected by the renovation throughout Cambodia.

A synopsis of a January meeting, carried out earlier this year to discuss relocation and compensation in Phnom Penh, showed that some villagers are concerned about the impact of relocation on their businesses.

So far, said Kerr, the track-side population has been enthusiastic about the plans. But whether this will prove the case as the relocation plan progresses remains to be seen.

Old engines there are being refurbished - Photo by: Ellie dyer
http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/zz311/ssccambo/100506_8b.jpg


Derelict parts litter the interior of a warehouse at the railway station - Photo by: Ellie dyer
http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/zz311/ssccambo/100506_8a.jpg

A restored passenger car - Photo by: Ellie dyer
http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/zz311/ssccambo/100506_8c.jpg

A group of track-side villagers - Photo by: Ellie dyer
http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/zz311/ssccambo/100506_8d.jpg

A Chinese train ready for service - Photo by: Ellie dyer
http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/zz311/ssccambo/100506_8e.jpg

I hope Cambodia will develop rail system. It is so useful for a country.
Siem Reap / PP could be at about more than one hour with Fast train ! And maybe three hour by normal train.

Hope Cambodia have a Train soon, And the Sky Train too, I'm sicken tired of hearing the worst in the world. Just give Cambodia some time to restore things back to order.

The trains in Cambodia are still running and you can take any trains from Phnom Penh to Battembang or Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville, but it is not running frequently.

It used to be running extremely slow (approx 12 hours to Sihanoukville and Battambang), and it is not running on schedule. Because of this, passengers would prefer to take a car or bus instead for long distance travels.

Now, there is only a weekly departure to Battambang and no longer any passenger trains to Sihanoukville.

Copy from Wikipedia

Cities served by rail

* Poipet Railway Station - on border with Thailand, currently served by Thai rail only.
* Sisophon Railway Station - district capital
* Battambang Railway Station - provincial capital
* Moung Ruessei Railway Station - district capital
* Pursat Railway Station- provincial capital
* Phnom Penh Railway Station - national capital - port on Mekong River
* Takeo Railway Station - provincial capital
* Sihanoukville Railway Station - port and provincial capital

^^

apart from the train?? within the big city like PP, is there any public bus in operation??

^^

apart from the train?? within the big city like PP, is there any public bus in operation??

There's no Bus Public Service inside Phnom Penh for now. But there's a project of sky train described in another thread for PP.

There's private bus between different cities and it works fine.

Hmm, There used to be the transit service between Thai railway and Cambodian railway (Aranyaprathet - Poipet - 7 km) trice a week during the day of Sihanuk (1955 - 1961) and twice a week during the day of Lon Nol (1971-74).

During war time Thailand, IJA and TSR had finished the section from Mongkolborei (water stop - 7 km SOuth of Sisophon) to Aranyaprathet and opened for regular service (Mixed 51/52 - BKK - Battambang) on 11 April 1942. The speed limit on the Mongkol Borei to Aranyaprathet was limited to 40 kph (the wooden tresttle at Tuek Thala had the speed limit at 5 kph).

In November 1942, after the 1942 Great flood has been subsided, TSR has opened the cargo service 249/250 (BKK - Battambang - Russei) to get the rice to feed Bangkokians as well as IJA... ONLY IJA Miltary trains were allowed to cross the border to Savay Donkeo.

Such a kind of service terminated after Thai government had to return Battambang and Sisophon and Siem Reap back to French Indochina on 17 Dec 1946 even the transfer ceremony had to be held on 9 Dec 1946.

Hope that the traffic light or semaphores will be install to allow the night trains to go.

//-----------------------------------------------------------

If it is necessary, rebuild Poipet station which has bene bombarded by howitzer shells since 1980's - even thouygh the corss border track has to be shifted ...

Khun Seemacau,

I would like to kneo about the full name of Cambodian Railway in Khmer [romanized perferred] because I still thought that Cambodina Railway in Khmer would be "Karn Rothae Ploeng Nai Kroeng Kamphujiadhibodee"
(Rothae = vehicle Ploeng = fire)
though ... Corect me if I make a blunt mistake.

Khun Seemacau,

I would like to kneo about the full name of Cambodian Railway in Khmer [romanized perferred] because I still thought that Cambodina Railway in Khmer would be "Karn Rothae Ploeng Nai Kroeng Kamphujiadhibodee"
(Rothae = vehicle Ploeng = fire)
though ... Corect me if I make a blunt mistake.

train = rothae ploeng
and I dont understand the other Khmerlish writing can you tell me in English and I will tell you the Khmer translation.

Khun Seemacau,

I would like to kneo about the full name of Cambodian Railway in Khmer [romanized perferred] because I still thought that Cambodina Railway in Khmer would be "Karn Rothae Ploeng Nai Kroeng Kamphujiadhibodee"
(Rothae = vehicle Ploeng = fire)
though ... Corect me if I make a blunt mistake.

Sorry I cannot help you because I don't understand any Khmer at all.

You better ask someone in this forum who understand Khmer :)

Khun Seemacau,

I would like to kneo about the full name of Cambodian Railway in Khmer [romanized perferred] because I still thought that Cambodina Railway in Khmer would be "Karn Rothae Ploeng Nai Kroeng Kamphujiadhibodee"
(Rothae = vehicle Ploeng = fire)
though ... Corect me if I make a blunt mistake.

Hi Khun Wisarut,

It's known as Reachea Yaksmaiyean Kampuchea (រាជា​យស្ម័ុយយាន​កម្ពុជា). It's probably something like ราชายะสมัยยานกัมพูชา if written in Thai.... สมัย is pronounced "smai".

There's no Bus Public Service inside Phnom Penh for now. But there's a project of sky train described in another thread for PP.

There's private bus between different cities and it works fine.

thank you:),

Hi Khun Wisarut,

It's known as Reachea Yaksmaiyean Kampuchea (រាជា​យស្ម័ុយាន​កម្ពុជា). It's probably something like ราชายะสมัยยานกัมพูชา if written in Thai.... สมัย is pronounced "smai".

The Khmer alphabet seems not to stack properly ... You beter show the photo of thename of Royal Cambodia Railways as either phto fro mthe actual place or more cortrect form though.

The Khmer alphabet seems not to stack properly ... You beter show the photo of thename of Royal Cambodia Railways as either phto fro mthe actual place or more cortrect form though.

Here is it!

http://images.travelpod.com/users/vera_und_alex/1.1245321827.royal-railways-of-cambodia.jpg

^^^
Thanks a lot for your contribution ...
However, I found that the Modern Khmer rarely use
​យ​ស្ម័យយាន as used to be in the past. The preferred to use this wordផ្លូវដែក instead.

I just wonder if any Cambodians could show me the romanization of this word: ផ្លូវដែក .

^^^
Thanks a lot for your contribution ...
However, I found that the Modern Khmer rarely use
​យ​ស្ម័យយាន as used to be in the past. The preferred to use this wordផ្លូវដែក instead.

I just wonder if any Cambodians could show me the romanization of this word: ផ្លូវដែក .

Phlov Dek

After the line from Phnompenh to Sisophon alogn with Phnom Penh to Sihanukville have been fully rehabilitated, what is the next projects other than the fully reconstruction of the section from Sisophon to Poipet (including the fully rebuilding of Poipet station) and the section form Sihanukville station to Port of Kampongsom to enable the direct loading and unloading the container boxes between hte shops and the Container trains?

^ After this they have to connect Phnom Penh with Saigon and finish the Singapore-Kunming rail line.

^^^
Well, it is not that easy since Thai side need to do the following things because the final spike to connect Thairailway and Cambodian railway togather

1. Massive rehabilitation to increase the axle load from about 15 ton to 20 ton and 120 kph max speed from Klong 19 Junction to Aranyaprathet. some of the old bridges which cannot be reinforced with carbon fibers would have to be replaced with the 20-ton axle load bridges.
2. Land exappropriation in the section between the abandoned Klong Luek stop (km 259 from BKK) to the Border to be in line with the new Poipet station ... sicne Casino has blocked the track.
3. Reconstruction of Poipet station which has been damaged beyond repai with full facility.
4. New agreement which station ot be the Border station - need a single border station just like Padang besar which require both party to share the revenue and the cost of station maintainace. No more hazzle of separated station as it used to be in the past whcih require both SRT and Cambodian railway to run 7-km cross border services.
5. Couple changing in Cambdoian side - Link and Pin coupling system is obsolete and it cannot accommodate heavy cargo trains. It is about hte time to change the coupliugn system to allwo heavy trains to run.

Howwever, the better thign is the introudction of overnight train servince - started from cargo and the cross broder passenger trains. Even durign the good old day of Sangkhomrajniyom, no overnight train exists due to the lack of signal and system to handle overnight trains.

Train in Cambodia slow as Kdam Vier.

^^ :lol:

HMMM, so where is the derelic steam loco which SRT has donated to Cambodia during the day of Republic (5 MacArthur Locos in 1970 + 10 CGs & 5 E-Class Locos in 1973) ...

Hope that they are not under the breaker torch to be scrapped ... :(

Railway freight hub delayed

CONSTRUCTION on Cambodia’s largest freight rail station has been postponed to the end of the year, Ministry of Public Works and Transportation Undersecretary of State Yin Bonna said Thursday.

“We are still studying the design of the plan. We have not yet had approval,” Ministry of Public Works and Transportation undersecretary of state Yin Bonna said. Construction on the station was slated to begin in mid-2010 and be completed during 2012, he said late last year. When contacted Thursday he declined comment on meeting the 2012 completion date.

Samrong is the planned central node for freight shipments on Cambodia’s US $141 million revamped rail project, funded by the Asian Development Bank, the government, AusAID and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The new facility will be built on the site of a former station on 98 hectares of land in Dangkor district outside Phnom Penh, standing at the junction of the Southern Line connecting Sihanoukville and the Northern Line stretching to Thailand.

Some of the land earmarked for the new station was not under the railroad’s control, Samrong Krom commune chief Touch Phin said. “The government has not yet solved the problem for villagers.”

Agreeing on compensation for the land was the main point of conflict between the two parties, he added. “The villagers are asking for payments of $10 a square metre, but the government is only offering $2.90 per metre.”

The first elements of the Southern Line are slated to open October 1, with the full line seeing freight shipments by April 2011, ADB Senior Transport Economist Peter Broch said. Cambodia has signed the Trans-Asia Railway agreement intended to link Asian and European nations by rail.

A proposed line to Vietnam is still in the earliest planning stages

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010060439528/Business/railway-freight-hub-delayed.html

Hope Cambodia have a Train soon, And the Sky Train too, I'm sicken tired of hearing the worst in the world. Just give Cambodia some time to restore things back to order.

Cambodia has already had plenty of time and plenty of foreign aid money to develop it's infrastructure. The problem is your leaders are corrupt and greedy

http://ki-media.blogspot.com/2009/12/khmer-riche-written-by-andrew-marshall.html

and it doesn't matter how much money we give you, or how much time you have, these people will keep taking the lot and Cambodia will remain poor.

Wake up and smell the Bacon.

Is the Cambodian railway using metre gauge?
I suppose it is for connectivity with Thailand and Vietnam.
Since it is in early days for great opportunities in railway developments, it should put in place policies for scalability.
One of the biggest constraint of metre gauge railway is stability and speed.
One of the ways of overcoming it is the keeping the alignment as straight as possible.
Policies need to be set for minimum turning radius.

Just a suggestion.

Cambodia has already had plenty of time and plenty of foreign aid money to develop it's infrastructure. The problem is your leaders are corrupt and greedy

http://ki-media.blogspot.com/2009/12/khmer-riche-written-by-andrew-marshall.html

and it doesn't matter how much money we give you, or how much time you have, these people will keep taking the lot and Cambodia will remain poor.

Wake up and smell the Bacon.

But more than 75% of the money goes to your experts salaries from your countries that provide the money for doing the minimum works in Cambodia. Their salaries are far more higher than the corrupted people in Cambodia take in. What do they do? Correcting a few written reports? They are creating jobs (vacation jobs) for their own connected people using their people tax money.

Of course, adding Cambodian corrupted and greedy officials would not do any good to the aid money and poor Cambodians. However, free world wants to see Cambodia in the free world. So, they have to create the rich first, then the middle class, then finally the poor. This called capitalism. Don't we want that or do we want the communism like the Soviet Union?

By the way, all aid money are attached. They are not free. Nothing is free in the world. I don't think the most greedy governments of all, the West, would give free money to anybody else including their own poor people.

Rail is key to getting the economy back on the right track
Friday, 20 August 2010 15:01 Steve Finch
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WHEN commerce ministers representing the Mekong Subregion meet today in Hanoi to discuss transport and trade links in the region, most will likely be frustrated with Cambodia over its lack of progress on the inter-Asia rail project. And with good reason.

Cambodia remains the only section of the planned Nanning-Singapore line that has not been completed. In a meeting on the project last week in Kunming, China, experts again cited financial and administrative problems as the main obstacle, a disappointing assessment from Cambodia’s point of view, given that the issue of sharing financial risk has plagued plans for years.

The Kingdom clearly has a much more difficult task in rehabilitating its rail lines than other countries on the network after tracks deteriorated during the civil war and its aftermath. But the government has to address this problem as soon as possible – expecting the likes of the Asian
Development Bank and the private sector to pick up the bill is causing intolerable delays. In this case, Cambodia very much needs to overcome its donor mentality.

The economic advantages associated with speeding up this painfully slow process are numerous. The project is expected to help solve key structural problems associated with the Cambodian economy, including logistics and energy efficiency, and will benefit key sectors such as tourism.

With the Kingdom still unable to produce its own fuel, a new international rail link provides clear advantages – rail uses significantly less fuel than road transport, meaning freight costs could be reduced substantially. Trains require roughly 40 percent less fuel than lorries, a saving that climbs even higher when considering old, less efficient road vehicles such as those commonly used in Cambodia.

In terms of trade the benefits are obvious. The new network would provide links to some of the Kingdom’s most important trade partners – China, Vietnam and Thailand. With Cambodia beginning to see large increases in its exports in recent years from a small base, this rail project could provide added impetus to the development of these industries. Furthermore, a new rail connection provides an additional transport link to key deepwater ports in Singapore and Cai Mep in southern Vietnam. Economic opportunities associated with completion of the project, therefore, also benefit industries like the garment sector, as most exports flow to these ports and on to Cambodia’s primary export markets in North America.

Given these clear benefits to the economy, why is the government not making this project an absolute priority? Instead of resorting to the type of mentality that expects others to front the capital, Cambodia needs to consider ways it could help finance the project.

Although the government has created strong GDP growth in recent years, the rail project is a reminder that key development initiatives still haven’t progressed since the end of the country’s recent turmoil. Were the CPP to address such persistent problems more efficiently, it could legitimately claim to be pushing the economy and the country in the right direction.

Train will be developped in Cambodia. This will boost the trade and voyager.
Source:PhnomPenhPost
Freight train imports planned
Friday, 27 August 2010 15:01 May Kunmakara and Catherine James
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100827_7a
A boy walks along the rail line in Teuk Thla commune in Sen Sok disrtict, which is in the midst of renovations. Photo by: Sovan Philong

TOLL Royal Railway is planning to spend up to US$81 million to import new trains as part of the multi-million-dollar railway upgrade of the Kingdom’s major freight routes, according to the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation.

“The company has already set a plan to buy 11 engine carriages, 500 freight carriages and some other train materials for their operation by the end of this year or next,” the ministry’s Secretary of State Touch Chankosal said yesterday.

He said that Toll Royal Railway was preparing the paperwork to apply to the Council for Development of Cambodia requesting permission to import the locomotives; however, he said he could not confirm where the trains would be purchased from.

He said that refurbishment of Cambodia’s existing trains would continue, but that the expectation was that they would not suffice.

“In fact, we still have many carriage heads and carriages which can be mended, but they do not completely run well, so we need to import the new ones,” he said.

Peter Brimble, Asian Development Bank senior country economist for Cambodia, said the main rationale for the railway upgrade, partly funded by the ADB, was to develop a more cost-effective freight system.

“The logistics cost of carrying agricultural produce is critical and if you don’t have an effective way of doing it then it’s difficult to get the product out. I think the idea behind this is that it’s one option that’s relatively cost-effective,” he said.

Touch Chankosal said it was also the first step to ease the amount of heavy transportation damaging roads.

The ADB and AusAID are providing $141 million in funding for Toll to upgrade the 254-kilometre line from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville town, a 388-kilometre line from Phnom Penh to Poipet and a 48-kilometre line from Poipet to Sisophon.

Brimble said there were no plans for the ADB to fund future railroad projects in the Kingdom, but that he understood a “spur” would be added to the rail line in Sihanoukville to link it to the nearby port.

Toll Chief Executive David Kerr declined to comment, and ADB senior transport economist Peter Broch said he could not confirm the figures provided by the ministry.

Toll is jointly owned 55 percent by Australia’s largest trucking and freight company, Toll Holdings, and 45 percent by Kit Meng’s Royal Group. The duo teamed up last year to secure a 30-year concession to operate the network.

Toll Holdings reported a full-year net profit yesterday of A$278.9 million (US$247 million) for the 12 months ending June.

Its shares rose 2.7 percent to A$5.99 at close of trading in Sydney yesterday.

Cambodia news about the new Trains and railways
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Cambodian Railway and Train animation
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^^ Thanks for sharing. :cheers2:

After opening the cargo service form Phnom Penh to Tuek Meas
[118.6-120km from Phnom Penh], I think Toll Holding should speed up their work to allow commuter service if the intercity service is not availble yet. Otherwise, those Norry owners would come back to violate the law despite of harsh punishment ... :ohno:

^^ Commuter services will be commence in three years time ..

It's about time for Cambodia to speed up the progress, and improve the mass transit system

^^^
Then, it should have overnight trains with sleeper cars to reach Poipet in the morning to coree the broder to Aranyaprathet.

^^ Probably "Yes'' :) (According to the newspaper)

Phnom Penh Railway Station Yard 8 Jan 2011

http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/46326234.jpg

Phnom Penh Station 8 Jan 2011

http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/46326237.jpg

...

การฟื้นฟูทางรถไฟกัมพูชาระยะที่ II มีกำหนดเสร็จ พ.ค. 54 (http://www.itfglobal.org/fusetalk/blog/blogpost.cfm?threadid=1259&catid=73)
International Transport Workers' Federation December 17, 2010

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/8149/62535800.gif
ที่มา : http://www.toll.com.au/media/2010/MediaKit_TGL_Cambodia_22Oct2010.pdf

I always thought Cambodia woul be like Laos, just a by pass country but from the looks of it it, also stops at Shihanouke Port which is also the main future destination for tourism as well! Good job! :cheers::cheers:

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/images/stories/news/national/2011/110519/110519_7b.jpg

so nothing on the east of the lake.

Looking forward to take a train from Phnom Penh to Poipet one day :)

I always thought Cambodia woul be like Laos, just a by pass country but from the looks of it it, also stops at Shihanouke Port which is also the main future destination for tourism as well! Good job!

French Master planned to make a rail connection between Phnom Penh and Saigon since 1928 accordign to the city plan at that time ... On th Yard of Phnom Penh station woudl have the Giant triangle track to allow the steam locomotve to reverse the direction - one head west to Poipet and the other head north adn then turn east crossing Bassak, passing Chruay changva, and crossing Mekhong all the way to Tayninh since Indichina rialway has laid the track to Tayninh - wating for Cambodian connection ... However such a plan never becoem realized ...

After independence, Somdej Sihanuk decide that having the connection to either Thailand (already had one between 1942-46 and 1955-61) and vietnam (by reviving the old French plan) will do NO good for cambodia so Semdej Sihanuk decided to have a rail connecting Phnom Penh with Sihanukville (deep sea port city) - First opened Takeo via Tuek Meas (dropping point to Vietnam), Kampot and the 264-km line was done on 20 Dec 1969.

If the link from Saigon to Phnoim Penh is gogi nto be revived again, billions of dollars will be in need to construct the liebn with high and long railway bridges to allwo large boats to go along Mekhong and Bassac. Not so sure if Chinese governemtn is going to grant the loan for both Vietnam and Cambodia in Yuan or dollars to realize the plan.

for the case of passenger service to Poipet - you have ensure that the railway can allow the overnight service the cross border service ... During the day when there was a cross boider services running between Aranyaprathet to Poipet Twice or trice a week - very low if you take the fact that SRT is running BKK - Aranyaprathet (254.5 km) TWICE a day - Moring train and afternoon train.

However during the WWII, IJA has set up the military trains across the border Trice a day including the overnight military trains from BKK to Svaydonkeo (boder station during that time) and TSR was allow to run the daily train from BKK to Battambang (about 390 km) and occasional cargo trains carrying rice between BKk and Russei (about 415 km).

French Master planned to make a rail connection between Phnom Penh and Saigon since 1928 accordign to the city plan at that time ... On th Yard of Phnom Penh station woudl have the Giant triangle track to allow the steam locomotve to reverse the direction - one head west to Poipet and the other head north adn then turn east crossing Bassak, passing Chruay changva, and crossing Mekhong all the way to Tayninh since Indichina rialway has laid the track to Tayninh - wating for Cambodian connection ... However such a plan never becoem realized ...

After independence, Somdej Sihanuk decide that having the connection to either Thailand (already had one between 1942-46 and 1955-61) and vietnam (by reviving the old French plan) will do NO good for cambodia so Semdej Sihanuk decided to have a rail connecting Phnom Penh with Sihanukville (deep sea port city) - First opened Takeo via Tuek Meas (dropping point to Vietnam), Kampot and the 264-km line was done on 20 Dec 1969.

If the link from Saigon to Phnoim Penh is gogi nto be revived again, billions of dollars will be in need to construct the liebn with high and long railway bridges to allwo large boats to go along Mekhong and Bassac. Not so sure if Chinese governemtn is going to grant the loan for both Vietnam and Cambodia in Yuan or dollars to realize the plan.

for the case of passenger service to Poipet - you have ensure that the railway can allow the overnight service the cross border service ... During the day when there was a cross boider services running between Aranyaprathet to Poipet Twice or trice a week - very low if you take the fact that SRT is running BKK - Aranyaprathet (254.5 km) TWICE a day - Moring train and afternoon train.

However during the WWII, IJA has set up the military trains across the border Trice a day including the overnight military trains from BKK to Svaydonkeo (boder station during that time) and TSR was allow to run the daily train from BKK to Battambang (about 390 km) and occasional cargo trains carrying rice between BKk and Russei (about 415 km).

^^I wish they would make another rail road track from PP to Koh Kong Province! That will be awesome! :cheers::cheers:

^^I wish they would make another rail road track from PP to Koh Kong Province! That will be awesome! :cheers::cheers:

In such a case, it must link with Sinhanukville deep sea port or so.
However, the priority has been to have as a link from Sisophon to Siam Reap to all better link to Angor though ... Battambang to Chanthaburi (Thailand) also beign considred though.

I think the ASEAN has already agreed on an ASEAN-wide connectivity in all modes of transport, including rail. There is even a protocol for Inter-Modal Systems in order to include archipelagiec countris like Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Eventually, this would be the direction regardless of political changes in the region. The inherent efficiency of the interconnected system would make borders obsolete.

I think the ASEAN has already agreed on an ASEAN-wide connectivity in all modes of transport, including rail. There is even a protocol for Inter-Modal Systems in order to include archipelagiec countris like Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Eventually, this would be the direction regardless of political changes in the region. The inherent efficiency of the interconnected system would make borders obsolete.

^^ It gets complicated as Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines are considered isolated from the mainland SEA countries.

^^ It gets complicated as Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines are considered isolated from the mainland SEA countries.

For the case of Malaysia you are refering to, it must be Sawawak and Sabah though since the mainland Malaysia DOES have rail connection with Thailand.

BTW, Indonesia and Malaysia conside the megaproject to construct the bridge + tunnel connecting Sumatra with Malaysia and Indonesia is plannign to construct the bridge & tunnel connecign Java with SUmatra which is a magaproject by itself.

For the case of Malaysia you are refering to, it must be Sawawak and Sabah though since the mainland Malaysia DOES have rail connection with Thailand.

BTW, Indonesia and Malaysia conside the megaproject to construct the bridge + tunnel connecting Sumatra with Malaysia and Indonesia is plannign to construct the bridge & tunnel connecign Java with SUmatra which is a magaproject by itself.

^^Very ambitious project! I want to see this happen!

^^^
Even it means to bury millions ALIVE as the foundation for such megaproject since there is nothing better than puttign the flesh, skulls, skeletons to realize such ambitious project!

I got the latest news from Phnom Penh Post that the track form Tuek Meas to Sihanukville will not be done on time ... so the openign of the line to Sihanukville will have to be delayed from August 2011 to late 2011 or even 2012 ...

Sadly, the weekly passenger service between Phnom Penh to Battamabang has been suspended since Jan 2009 ...

Feasibility study on the construction railway linking Cambodia and Viet Nam

http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/Social-Isssues/213606/Cambodia-VN-rail-to-cost-686m.html

Cambodia-VN rail to cost $686m

HA NOI – A feasibility study on the construction of a 257km railway linking Cambodia and Viet Nam shows it will cost at least US$686 million.

The railway will be part of an intra-Asian railway that runs from Singapore to China via Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam.

Under a scheme announced in 2008 to develop an intra-Asian railway, China has offered to contribute $500 million to build the Cambodia-Viet Nam stretch of the railway.

The overall cost estimate was announced on Wednesday by the Third Railway Survey and Design Institute from the Chinese Railway Ministry which began the study in July, 2009. The study results will be submitted to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen for his approval.

The 275km railway will start in Kampong Speu Province's Oudong District, pass by Kratie Province's Snuol District and end at Viet Nam's Loc Ninh District in the southern border province of Binh Phuoc.

The $686 million cost does not include resettlement compensation to residents who have to leave their homes to make way for the line.

Experts said the railway could bring huge economic benefits to Cambodia, especially in agriculture and mineral exploitation.
At present, Cambodia is revamping the country's existing rail links, including the 254km southern line from the capital to Sihanoukville, and the 388 north line from Phnom Penh to the border with Thailand thanks to an Asian Development Bank loan worth $73 million. - VNS

The overall cost estimate was announced on Wednesday by the Third Railway Survey and Design Institute from the Chinese Railway Ministry which began the study in July, 2009. The study results will be submitted to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen for his approval.


What is there to approve? We just have to come up with the other $186m.

Here's an old article

Integrating South-East Asia

China coming down the tracks

A railway boom promises to tie South-East Asia together—and boost China’s sway
Jan 20th 2011 | BANGKOK | from PRINT EDITION

http://media.economist.com/images/images-magazine/2011/01/22/as/20110122_asd001.jpg

THE rapid expansion of its high-speed railways has got China plenty of attention. Yet ambitions do not stop at the border. On its southern flank China is renewing a push to lay tracks to mainland South-East Asia. The region’s leaders have dreamed since the 1990s of seamless rail travel between Singapore and Kunming, capital of the south-western Chinese province of Yunnan. South-East Asia’s existing network of railways is creaking, patchy and underfunded. Most goods move about the region by lorry and ship. But that creates choke points while running up fuel bills. An integrated rail system could be just the ticket.

Enter China, chequebook in hand. It has recently signed agreements to build new lines in Laos and Thailand, while it extends its network from Kunming to the China-Laos border. These lines are meant to be ready by 2015. The benefits may be huge. Most countries along the route have already hitched their wagons to China’s outsize economy and are eager for more trade. China’s free-trade agreement with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which took effect a year ago, has cut tariffs on most traded goods. The region still has natural resources, which China is keen to strip.

Empire-builders love railways. Most of South-East Asia’s were laid during colonial rule, as Britain and France pushed inland. In a region with American leanings, China wants to bind its neighbours into an economic sphere with strategic weight. Laying lines into Myanmar, with a large but decrepit network, would add a coveted Indian Ocean port. More regional trade with its centre in Yunnan spreads wealth inland, another Chinese objective. Trains already shuttle between China and Vietnam, which has a north-south railway. This linkage opens up the possibility of a circuitous eastern route into South-East Asia, via Cambodia and Thailand. Both countries belong to the Greater Mekong Subregion, a grouping fostered by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that also includes Vietnam, China, Laos and Myanmar. According to the ADB, it would cost $1.1 billion to build the missing links along this route, making it the cheapest way to connect the region. Some $7 billion more would be needed to upgrade existing lines and rolling-stock. By 2014, once this route is operating, it would carry almost 7m tonnes of cargo among Greater Mekong countries, rising to 26m tonnes by 2025, the ADB reckons. Greater Mekong countries duly backed the plan in August.

http://media.economist.com/images/images-magazine/2011/01/22/as/20110122_asm904.gif

Yet China quickly upended this consensus. In December Laos said China would build a $7 billion high-speed railway from the border to its capital, Vientiane. Construction is set to begin in April. Meanwhile, Thailand is negotiating with China to build a connecting north-south line to Bangkok, using concessionary Chinese loans. ADB officials are left scratching their heads over what this means for the Vietnam-Cambodia route, including a long stretch that China had been expected to build but which now appears to be on the back burner.

On paper, the Laos-Thailand route is more direct, but it is also far more mountainous, with 190 kilometres (120 miles) of tunnels in Laos and countless bridges. Remote areas of Laos are also littered with unexploded bombs from the Vietnam war. None of this is likely to stop a country that laid a railway up to the Tibetan plateau.

In Thailand the hazards are more political. To get around the mighty, hidebound state operator, the Thai government proposes a new line using Chinese technology to run parallel to the existing one. A Thai-Chinese entity would rent the land from the state operator and build its own signals and stations. Handily, the route would pass through Thailand’s poor and politically disaffected north-east, giving a shot in the arm to the local economy.

Thailand says that fast passenger trains would reach speeds of 200 kilometres an hour, streets ahead of what currently pass for express trains. Tourists could ride luxury carriages to exotic destinations. A fast train, says Korbsak Sabhavasu, the government’s chief negotiator, is something Thailand needed 20 years ago. But Thailand’s treacherous politics may yet intrude, as any final agreement with China needs the nod from parliament. In an election year, this is no certainty.

Tourists and trainspotters may be tickled by a fast train to China. Yet the real point of modernising the railways is cargo. Intra-ASEAN trade is growing much faster than exports to developed markets. Nearly a quarter of Thailand’s exports go to South-East Asia, with another 11% (and rising) to China. Trains are more efficient and less polluting than lorries on all but the shortest routes. Peter Broch of the ADB estimates that a rail service from Bangkok to Phnom Penh would cut the price of moving a container by two-thirds compared with moving it by ship and lorry, as now.

Even without a railway network, the region is tying itself together. Roads have been upgraded, and customs procedures are less tape-bound than they were before. When Wang Er-Chern began trading agricultural produce in northern Thailand in the early 1990s, it took two weeks to send goods by road and ship via Laos to his native Yunnan. Today the journey has been shaved to two days. Mr Wang, prominent in the Thai Yunnan Commerce Association, says a fast rail link to Kunming would be nice. But he grumbles that business has already become less profitable as more Chinese traders have got in on the act. A trainload more may soon be on the way.

from PRINT EDITION | Asia

Isn't Cambodia and China already linked by a road through Laos and the Mekong River??

The 275km railway will start in Kampong Speu Province's Oudong District, pass by Kratie Province's Snuol District and end at Viet Nam's Loc Ninh District in the southern border province of Binh Phuoc.

That's interesting, it's a completely different route than the one I thought they were planning that's on the map above.


Isn't Cambodia and China already linked by a road through Laos and the Mekong River??

The Mekong isn't navigable between Cambodia and Laos, and road transport is too expensive to be practical.

Rail Line Discussed for North Cambodia

A CHINESE railway company may conduct a feasibility study on a 700-kilometre rail line in northern Cambodia, officials and local media reported yesterday.
Officials from Nanning Survey and Design Institute Co Ltd, a subsidiary of China Railway Siyuan Group, discussed the study with the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation on November 16, Secretary of State Sokhom Pheakvoanmony said. The meeting with Chinese company director Zhang Beirui focused on technical aspects of the study, but did not yield a formal agreement, he added.
"We are submitting [the meeting result] for further talks with the relevant department directors at the ministry before we look for approval from the government," he said, adding mat Nanning Survey and Design Institute would also conduct similar studies in Laos and Vietnam. Sokhom Pheakvoanmony declined to answer further questions. The Chinese company planned to survey a potential 700-kilometre rail line that stretched across Preah Vihear, Stung Treng, Kampong Thorn and Kratie provinces and connected to the Laos and Vietnam borders, local media reported yesterday. The study would cost US$5 million and start next year.
An official at Nanning Survey and Design Institute, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized.
to discuss the project with the media, confirmed that progress had been made during discussions with the ministry, but no formal agreement was produced. Information concerning the length and price of the proposed project were speculative, he said.
Although intermittent discussion has continued on Chinese-Cambodian cooperation in rehabilitating the rail line that crosses Cambodia between Thailand and Vietnam, the estimated cost of the project may have caused delays, Lei Pengq-in, an economic and trade official at the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh, said yesterday.
"It needs a lot of capital ,.. Both countries are discussing the project right now, but the discussions are off and on," he said.
China's Ministry's of Railways conducted a study on a 257-kilometre, $686 million rail link between Kampong Speu and Kratie provinces, according to a statement from Cambodia's Ministry of Finance.
Document Source: The Phnom Penh Post (Cambodia)
Document Date: 11/22/2011

Rail Line Discussed for North Cambodia

A CHINESE railway company may conduct a feasibility study on a 700-kilometre rail line in northern Cambodia, officials and local media reported yesterday.
Officials from Nanning Survey and Design Institute Co Ltd, a subsidiary of China Railway Siyuan Group, discussed the study with the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation on November 16, Secretary of State Sokhom Pheakvoanmony said. The meeting with Chinese company director Zhang Beirui focused on technical aspects of the study, but did not yield a formal agreement, he added.
"We are submitting [the meeting result] for further talks with the relevant department directors at the ministry before we look for approval from the government," he said, adding mat Nanning Survey and Design Institute would also conduct similar studies in Laos and Vietnam. Sokhom Pheakvoanmony declined to answer further questions. The Chinese company planned to survey a potential 700-kilometre rail line that stretched across Preah Vihear, Stung Treng, Kampong Thorn and Kratie provinces and connected to the Laos and Vietnam borders, local media reported yesterday. The study would cost US$5 million and start next year.
An official at Nanning Survey and Design Institute, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized.
to discuss the project with the media, confirmed that progress had been made during discussions with the ministry, but no formal agreement was produced. Information concerning the length and price of the proposed project were speculative, he said.
Although intermittent discussion has continued on Chinese-Cambodian cooperation in rehabilitating the rail line that crosses Cambodia between Thailand and Vietnam, the estimated cost of the project may have caused delays, Lei Pengq-in, an economic and trade official at the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh, said yesterday.
"It needs a lot of capital ,.. Both countries are discussing the project right now, but the discussions are off and on," he said.
China's Ministry's of Railways conducted a study on a 257-kilometre, $686 million rail link between Kampong Speu and Kratie provinces, according to a statement from Cambodia's Ministry of Finance.
Document Source: The Phnom Penh Post (Cambodia)
Document Date: 11/22/2011

^^ YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! HURRY UP!! huryyyyyy up!!YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!! :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

what about rail size? Still be 1m? or 1.067mm or 1.435mm

what about rail size? Still be 1m? or 1.067mm or 1.435mm

What could you expect the benefit from rail size 1 m, or 1.067 mm or 1.435 mm? It is still end up one rail line

what about rail size? Still be 1m? or 1.067mm or 1.435mm

Am I missing something here? But, is there such thing 1.067 mm or 1.435 mm in rail size? Is it made in Vietnam?

Am I missing something here? But, is there such thing 1.067 mm or 1.435 mm in rail size? Is it made in Vietnam?

No!!! =| oh,sorry,i mean rail gauge! You should read this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_gauge

what about rail size? Still be 1m? or 1.067mm or 1.435mm

^^ It doesn't matter! As long as Cambodia is connected to china from the North to Yunnan and from the East to Guangxi it will be complete:) :cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers:

No!!! =| oh,sorry,i mean rail gauge! You should read this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_gauge

It is not 1.067 mm or 1.435 mm, but 1,067 mm or 1,435 mm which is 1.067 metres or 1.435 metres. It has to be a metre or more. You can't run a train on a rail guage of a 1 millimetre or something even if it is a toy train.

^^ It doesn't matter! As long as Cambodia is connected to china from the North to Yunnan and from the East to Guangxi it will be complete:) :cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers:

It does matter. If the rail gauge is too norrow, train's speed is limited. There may be other things that matter as well.

It does matter. If the rail gauge is too norrow, train's speed is limited. There may be other things that matter as well.

^^ who cares!

^^ who cares!

The people who pay for traveling and transporting their goods do.

When this railway from North Cambodia gets approve it will benefit the country even more! I already knew China was going to build a railway from North Cambodia to Yunnan China!

These train lines are meant to be ready before 2015.

These train lines are meant to be ready before 2015.

^^ i think it will come soon!!! :cheers::cheers:

the size of rail gauge is important...espacially when all the railways in SEA mainland is connected...

^^^
Gettign railway to be done so quickly - but the price the price to pay

1. the 257 km line to Link with vietnam - 428,233 death
2. the 700 km line to Phra Vihar - 1,166,667 death
3. the 48 km of missing link from Poipet to Sisophon - 80,000 death
4. the 105 km from Sisophon to Siamreap - 175,000 death

total 1,849,900 death ... If the dead has the same amount as the number of sleepers on the main lines ... the sleepers on the passing loops and dead ends not counted ...

^^^
Gettign railway to be done so quickly - but the price the price to pay

1. the 257 km line to Link with vietnam - 428,233 death
2. the 700 km line to Phra Vihar - 1,166,667 death
3. the 48 km of missing link from Poipet to Sisophon - 80,000 death
4. the 105 km from Sisophon to Siamreap - 175,000 death

total 1,849,900 death ... If the dead has the same amount as the number of sleepers on the main lines ... the sleepers on the passing loops and dead ends not counted ...

I did not know that the price for building railway is in death. How many deaths that other countries, including thailand, have had to pay for building those railway system there?

By the way, it is called Preah Vihear, not Phra Vihar. I am not sure how all Cambodians think, but I think it is an insult to Cambodia and her people. If you are a visitor in Cambodia forum, I would suggest that you should not be so ignorant and be respectful to the host. This is the problem with "some thai" people, especially the Yellow shirts. They never show respect for what people living around them have. You sound like of one of those Thais. Can't blame you because you may have been brainwashed by the Thai army.

I did not know that the price for building railway is in death. How many deaths that other countries, including thailand, have had to pay for building those railway system there?

By the way, it is called Preah Vihear, not Phra Vihar. I am not sure how all Cambodians think, but I think it is an insult to Cambodia and her people. If you are a visitor in Cambodia forum, I would suggest that you should not be so ignorant and be respectful to the host. This is the problem with "some thai" people, especially the Yellow shirts. They never show respect for what people living around them have. You sound like of one of those Thais. Can't blame you because you may have been brainwashed by the Thai army.

^^stop bringing politics into this forum dude! he can say whatever he wants it's his way of pronouncing it! you get so sensitive over little things!

Well, I just use the case of the 415 km Death Railway durign the WWII for the comparison for the case of shten the 5-10 year constuction to be done in 1-year ...

Here is the progress of Cambodian railway rehabilitation:

1. Sihanukville Station - algon with the good old CGs
http://constructingcambodia.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/old-sihanoukville-railway-station/

2. Phnom Penh to Kampot
http://constructingcambodia.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/260/

3. Battambang station
http://constructingcambodia.wordpress.com/2010/11/30/old-battambang-railway-station/

4. Last Bamboo train ride from Battambang station
http://constructingcambodia.wordpress.com/2009/08/30/last-bamboo-train-ride/

5. Repainted Phnom Penh Terminal station
http://constructingcambodia.wordpress.com/2010/11/05/new-paint-job/

6. Around Phnom Penh railway yard
http://constructingcambodia.wordpress.com/2010/07/11/276/

2tmsYyuThBw
Alsthom loco running cargo trains to Battamabang and Kampot in 2009 by SachsenringP3

phnom penh raiway looking good!!!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lqiKd9X58r4/TpHgjpjTnoI/AAAAAAAAJ_o/MoYU1iwEqvI/s1600/IMG_7344.JPG

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FtsA_ecniJI/To7IlubzbXI/AAAAAAAAJ-o/izKjrfRHkg4/s1600/IMG_7346.JPG

Getting the latest news from ADB on 30 Jan 2012 that the rail reconstruction from Sisophon to Poipet (42 km) is almost done ... but the REAL and OBVIOUS bone of contention is the section from Aranyaprathet to Poipet (6 km) since casino building has occupied the old railway track area on Cambodia side and those merchant at Rong kluea Marketwho occupied railway track on Thai side ...

Getting the latest news from ADB on 30 Jan 2012 that the rail reconstruction from Sisophon to Poipet (42 km) is almost done ... but the REAL and OBVIOUS bone of contention is the section from Aranyaprathet to Poipet (6 km) since casino building has occupied the old railway track area on Cambodia side and those merchant at Rong kluea Marketwho occupied railway track on Thai side ...

^^ Any news on railway connection from Phnom penh to Koh kong cambodia?

^^ since when???

^^ since when???

^^ i heard from a friend of mine from cambodia but i don't know if he is telling me the truth or not.

Based on Phnom Penh Post, PM is searching for the funds to build new rail from PP to Viet Nam Border after it had clear feasibility study.

I think our PM will need to travel to China or it will be discussed in this year Asean + China meeting. I expect alittle bit support from Asean countries because this is Asean 's railway.

^^stop bringing politics into this forum dude! he can say whatever he wants it's his way of pronouncing it! you get so sensitive over little things!

Yeah, he can say what he wants about Cambodia in the Thai Forums, and I would not give a shit about it, but in Cambodia Forum, he has to respect Cambodians, pronouncing Cambodia town and cities correctly in included. It is little things for you because you are detached from everything Cambodian. Cambodians that I talk to thing this is big deal because some thais are ignorant on this issue.

^^ Any news on railway connection from Phnom penh to Koh kong cambodia?
NO - They have focust on reviving the exisign route and the rotue to Siam Reap and ANgore instead of Koh Kong since you can take a bus from Sihanukvilled to Koh Koing or so.

YH7M2lFrApM
Here is the recent situation of Cambodia railway (Rot Ploeng) - in Cambodian with English Subtitle

Toll Group alleged to be leaving rail project.

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll8/Mongwin/cambodia_daily14032012.jpg

Royal Group denies Toll's exit from local railway project.

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll8/Mongwin/cambodia_daily15032012.jpg

Toll trains said to stop March 31

Tom Brennan
Tuesday, 20 March 2012


Toll Group has informed the Cambodian government that it will suspend all railway operations and lay off half of its Cambodian staff at the end of the month, according to a source familiar with the situation.
The Australian logistics firm, which in partnership with Royal Group of Companies holds a 30-year lease to operate the Kingdom’s national railway, reportedly told the government of its plan last Friday, Paul Power, a consultant to the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MPWT), told the Post yesterday.

“The major reason is the rehabilitation [of the railway] is well behind schedule. And Toll believes, rightly or wrongly, the schedule of rehabilitation doesn’t meet with their business objectives,” he said by phone, adding that discussions between Toll and the Cambodian government had been ongoing since last summer.

Power presently works as project coordinator for MPWT, upgrading the ministry’s Railway Department.

The department is tasked with, among other duties, the implementation of the concession agreement between the government and Toll Royal Railway, the Toll Group-Royal Group joint venture.

“Suspension of service and employees takes effect March 31,” Power said in a follow-up email yesterday.

Sixty Cambodians out of a total staff of 120 will be laid off on a re-call basis, he said, “with only one expat out of four remaining as far as I know”.

Insiders have said recently that Toll Group had grown frustrated with the often-delayed rehabilitation of the Cambodian national railway, especially the southern line that connects Phnom Penh with Sihanoukville port, and planned to withdraw from the project.

Toll Group officials in Australia declined to comment on a report in the Australian press last week to that effect, but Toll officials in Cambodia said a statement on the status of the project was now being drafted for release.

Toll Group has not yet issued that statement.

When asked yesterday about its reported suspension notice to the government, Toll Group spokesman Andrew Ethell in Melbourne and Toll Royal CEO David Kerr again declined to comment.

The Post reached Touch Chankosal, the MPWT secretary of state in charge of the rail project, multiple times yesterday evening by phone, but he said he was in a meeting and declined to comment.

Two spokesmen at the Council of Ministers claimed they still had no knowledge of Toll’s announcement that it would suspend operations.

Depite Toll’s complaints, the rehabilitation process has seen “marked improvements” of late, Philip Bulmer, deputy project manager for the southern line with Nippon Koei, said.

Nippon Koei is a railway engineering firm also working on the project.

Sinopacific Construction Corp, which is registered in Vietnam but has roots in Taiwan and mainland China, has “recently mobilised significant resources” to jump-start the rebuilding, he said.

SPCC is in a joint venture with France’s TSO to restore the railway.

“Everybody’s working hard now to attain limited commercial operation by October of this year,” Bulmer said of the southern line.

The southern line was originally projected for completion in late 2010, but was later pushed back to May 2011.

Full completion is now expected in January next year, Bulmer said.

He blamed the rehabilitation delays on “contractual issues”, but declined to comment further.

If Toll Group aimed to prompt faster rehabilitation by suspending operations, the company may have made a mistake, MPWT consultant Power said.

Toll is presently leasing its trains to TSO to carry construction material and equipment to work sites.

But with operations now coming to a halt, the rebuilding will most likely move even more slowly, Power said.

“I don’t think it’s a good strategy, but I’m not an investor,” he said of Toll’s decision.

“We don’t have the trains to complete the rehab.”

Power called the status of the rail project an “uncertain situation”, saying “the government needs to measure the impact of Toll’s suspension of service and consider its options”.

Poipet-Sisophon Railway 17 Mar 2012
6 km from Poi Pet City
http://maps.google.co.th/?ll=13.631927,102.606951&spn=0.004353,0.006968&t=h&z=18

_iJ-g7QxV-I

Gov’t Reveals Chinese, Korean Railway Plans (http://www.opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news-source/the-cambodia-daily/govt-reveals-chinese-korean-railway-plans/)
Eang Mengleng and Simon Lewis
Cambodia Daily March 20, 2012 P.17

The Chinese and South Korean governments have been granted permission to build 565 km of new railroad in Cambodia and have already conducted feasibility studies, according to a government report released yesterday.

In its annual report, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport said that plans were in store to build 450 km of railroad from Preah Vihear province in the north to Kampot province in the south.

China Railway—a state-owned company under the Chinese Ministry of Railways—has conducted a feasibility study for the project, the report says.

The line would pass through Kompong Thom, Kompong Chhnang and Kompong Speu provinces, according to the report, which added that another Chinese company, CRSDI, is involved in studies for more railway-related work, including a station to be built in Kompong Chhnang City, the report says.

yesssssss...yessssssssssssss.... finally we soon see the connection between China through mainland South East Asia. :cheers::cheers::cheers:

how soon is it???? Lolz

^^^
When Chinese government approved the special loan with 60-Year concession alogn with massive importation of Chinese workers accompanied with the 2-10 km wide strip of land alogn the railway line as the tightening nooses attached.

^^^
When Chinese government approved the special loan with 60-Year concession alogn with massive importation of Chinese workers accompanied with the 2-10 km wide strip of land alogn the railway line as the tightening nooses attached.

^^Don't worry! As long as it is built then we are happy! Everybody will be happy!

Wisarut! How about build a railway to Koh kong to the it's port!

Yeah, he can say what he wants about Cambodia in the Thai Forums, and I would not give a shit about it, but in Cambodia Forum, he has to respect Cambodians, pronouncing Cambodia town and cities correctly in included. It is little things for you because you are detached from everything Cambodian. Cambodians that I talk to thing this is big deal because some thais are ignorant on this issue.

I think there is no need to be pissed off, just correct us nicely. It is very common for non Cambodian speaker to pronounce Khmer incorrectly.

Is there train service from Bkk to capital city?

I think there is no need to be pissed off, just correct us nicely. It is very common for non Cambodian speaker to pronounce Khmer incorrectly.

I was trying to tell him how to pronounce it right more a a few times. But, he still keeps doing the same thing pretending to be stupid about it. Don't you know lots of Thais still believe that Preah Vihear belongs to Thailand, not Cambodia? It does not matter how much we correct them, they won't listen. I don't mind if they call it the way they usually do in their forums. But, in international forums, Cambodia forum, for example, they should respect Cambodians by willing to spell Preah Vihear the way Cambodians and international community call it.

I think I can correct my dog easily better than people who really do not care and respect other people cultures.

Poipet-Sisophon Railway 17 Mar 2012
6 km from Poi Pet City
http://maps.google.co.th/?ll=13.631927,102.606951&spn=0.004353,0.006968&t=h&z=18

_iJ-g7QxV-I

^^Can you imagine taking the train to Battambang and seeing them beautiful lush green Rice fields! :drool::drool::drool:

All i am concern is if the train is air conditioned.

If there is one in future, there must be classes to choose from. Pay more for first class with air con or less for second class with just fresh air and so on. I am sure that there will be.

ADB Won’t Pay to Finish Rail Project
Posted on March 22, 2012

Having already spent millions of dollars, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will not foot the additional $70 to $90 million in funds still needed to complete more than half of Cambodia’s railway rehabilitation project, an official from the ADB said yesterday.

Toll Royal Railways, a joint venture between Australia’s Toll Holdings and the Cambodia conglomerate Royal Group, has a 30-year concession to operate the railway.

On Friday, Toll Holdings told the Finance Ministry in a letter that it would suspend its work because the sub-contracted firms that are building the railway network were taking too long, and the project is now not profitable.

The ADB has so far contributed $84 million as part of $141.6 million in funds to rehabilitate the dilapidated network, which is being built by sub-contractors TSO Co Ltd, of France, and Sino Pacific Construction Corp, a company based in Vietnam

What the issue here? Is Cambodia kick Aussie out and ask China in? Why ADB is not happy?

20 March 2012

ADB Statement on Suspension of TOLL Royal Railways Operations in Cambodia

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been informed that Toll Group of Australia and Royal Group of Cambodia (Toll Royal Railways) have decided to suspend all train operations in Cambodia for one year beginning in April.

Construction delays have occurred because of last year's catastrophic floods, as well as land acquisition, resettlement and equipment mobilization processes that have taken longer than expected. ADB is concerned that if trains used for rehabilitation works are no longer available, the suspension could contribute to further construction delays.

In spite of these delays, the Southern rail line linking Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville Autonomous Port is expected to open for commercial traffic in October 2012, while the line from Phnom Penh to Bat Deung in Kampong Speu province is expected to open in May 2012.

ADB shares the Cambodian Government's commitment to completing the railway project and ensuring that the rehabilitated railway directly contributes to sustainable economic growth and development for Cambodia and its people.

Once completed, the railway will directly link to Cambodia's national highway network and sea and inland water transport systems. The efficiency and cost-effectiveness of Cambodia's transport system will be measurably enhanced by enabling the efficient and safe transport of heavy, bulky, and hazardous cargos.
http://www2.adb.org/projects/cam-railway/default.asp#time12

BTW, Bat Deung in Kampong Speu province at km 31.44 from Phnom Penh is the station nearest to Udong - Old Capital of Cambodia) is expected to open in May 2012.

Cambodia’s railway veers off track (http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012040255374/World-news/cambodias-railway-veers-off-track.html)
Roger Mitton
The Phnom Penh Post Monday, 02 April 2012

The stumblebum way that the scheme to regenerate Cambodia’s railway system has been handled could well form the basis for a movie starring The Three Stooges.

Moe, Larry and Curly, the late and lamented originals, would be replaced by a new trio of comics called Toll, Royal and Frenchie.

Of course, we jest; but really it is hard to keep a straight, if sad, face when contemplating the farcically mishandled endeavour.

It has been like watching quicksand slowly swallow a fat man who keeps insisting he is fine and will soon be skipping a light fandango.

Four years ago, amidst an air of optimism, the railroad restoration work was handed to a French company, Travaux du Sud-Ouest, or TSO; while a contract to operate the finished line was given to Toll Royal Railways.

Therein lies one of the key causes of the resulting fiasco.

Rail technicians, businessmen and diplomats endlessly note that it is normal practice for the company that reactivates the line to receive the right to run it for several years.

The Cambodians, however, elbowed TSO aside and awarded a 30-year concession to operate the line to a joint venture between Australia’s Toll Holdings and Cambodia’s Royal Group.

Royal’s head honcho, Kith Meng, is close to the Cambodian leadership and also holds Australian citizenship.

The Frenchies lack such ties, and so, while miffed, agreed to accept just the regeneration job, and began work on the long-disused track from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville.

This Southern Line was scheduled to be ready by August 1, 2010, later revised to May 30, 2011.

It remains barely half-finished. Only the easiest section as far as Kampot has been rehabilitated – up to a point.

According to independent observers, aspects of the work done on that section are substandard, if not dangerously defective.

Instead of a level line, photographs show parts of the track looking as if they had been laid by a drunken man suffering from heat exposure.

A coherent explanation for the $143 million project’s missed deadlines and work problems has not been forthcoming because those involved have either dissembled shamefully, or have jumped ship or been sacked.

Last month, long-rumoured reports became public that Melbourne-based Toll, or rather its Metro Bar-based local affiliate, was pulling out.

TSO will likely follow.

Apparently, the Chinese will take over and finish the project, although it may be a railroad no one wants to use.

After all, the narrow gauge line to Sihanoukville was never going to be viable anyway, as railway experts and a senior minister told me back in 2009.

Consider the choice facing a local textile manufacturer who has just filled a container with shirts for Marks & Spencer in the UK.

He can take it to the railway station where it will sit until it is put on a train, which will then wait till it is loaded with other containers and then will chug down to Sihanoukville at the pace of a slow bicycle.

Then it will be off-loaded at the port, and await the next feeder boat to Singapore.

Alternatively, he can put his container on a company truck, take it straight down to Sihanoukville and put it right on the boat.

It is a no brainer.
What is perplexing is why the supervising consultant, Japan’s Nippon Koei, did not red card the project long ago.

Perhaps it was because the Asian Development Bank, essentially Japan’s instrument for overseas aid, was its main financial backer.

Along with AusAID, a secondary funder, the bank should explain why millions were given to the Cambodian government to pay TSO for its dilatory work.

Given that the ADB has proposed funding similar projects in Myanmar, the debacle has important regional implications.

Certainly, after what has happened here, well-known cronies in Yangon like Zaw Zaw, Saya Kyaung and Te Za will be slavering at the prospect of pocketing millions from the ADB’s benevolent laxity.
rogermitton@gmail.com

Show me the money!

Rail looks for new funding by Don Weinland, Phnom Penh Post, May 23 2012
It’s a nearly 300-kilometre stretch of rail in disrepair. More than 60 bridges – some crumbling, some dotted with landmines at the base – lie on the line between the towns of Bat Deong, northwest of Phnom Penh, and Sisophan near the Thai border.

It’s also where about US$118 million in grants and concessional loans from the Asian Development Bank, AusAid and other donors came up short in the effort to rehabilitate the country’s railways. “More reserves should have originally been put in place,” Peter Broch, senior transportation economist at ADB in Cambodia, said yesterday, adding that the tracks were in a poorer state than originally thought when assessments were conducted five years ago. The shortfall, and the reportedly slow pace of progress on the line, led to the suspension on March 31 of Toll Royal Group’s operations.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/images/stories/news/national/2012/120523/120523_07.jpg
A Toll Royal employee climbs aboard a train at Phnom Penh Railway Station in 2010.

The company, which has a 30-year concession for operations, has yet to issue a formal statement announcing the suspension, but a majority of the company’s staff have left the job. Sources of funding for the remaining track are unclear, but an official at ADB yesterday said the line that would connect Thailand to Cambodia’s only deepwater port would be complete in 2015.

The search for the remaining money, which experts yesterday said could not be assessed at present, was now in the hands of the government. “This is with the expectation that the government would be able to mobilise some sources of funding,” ADB Cambodia country director Putu Kamayana said yesterday. “I understand that there are public and private sources looking into it.” There’s an equal amount of speculation on Toll’s concession, which is in partnership with domestically owned Royal Group of Companies.

While ADB expects Toll to operate the 256-kilometre southern line when completed at the end of this year, Putu Kamayana also said that “we’ve heard the rumour that there are others waiting in the wings”. No firms have stepped forward as the successor to Toll. Touch Chankosal, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works, declined to comment yesterday on other possible companies interested in the Toll concession. Council of Ministers spokesman Ek Tha yesterday also declined to comment on developments regarding Cambodia’s railways.

In early May, Pierre Chartier, a transportation specialist at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia, told the Post that a slowdown on Cambodia’s railways could lead to slower regional progress on both the Vietnamese and Thai sides of the track. A functioning railroad in Cambodia would save $1 billion in road and sea transportation costs during the first 30 years of operation, according to an ADB estimate.

http://cambodiatrainspotter.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/5.jpg?w=520&h=493

China may fund Cambodia-Vietnam rail (http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012061356758/Business/china-to-fund-cambodia-rail.html)
Wednesday, 13 June 2012 Rann Reuy

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/images/stories/news/national/2012/120613/120613_073.jpg
A tuk-tuk crosses railway tracks on the outskirts of Phnom Penh last year. Photograph: Heng Chivoan/Phnom Penh Post
Cambodia was in discussions with the Chinese government on funding for a 250-kilometre stretch of rail line between Phnom Penh and Vietnam, in what Cambodian officials yesterday called a move away from a “complicated” Asian Development Bank loan.

Va Sim Sorya, director general at the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation, said the government could do without the requirements tagged to ADB loans, and fund the project with up to US$600 million in Chinese backing.

“China doesn’t have so many conditions, but Chinese technicians are still well-studied,” he said yesterday at a workshop on infrastructure, although he did not specify which conditions were undesirable.

Interest rates on ADB concessional loans averaged an annual 1.32 per cent after grace periods, according to data compiled by NGO Forum for Cambodia last year.

China’s concessional lending held the highest rates from any institution or country at an average 1.83 per cent per year.

ADB’s social safeguard policy from 2009 listed several requirements for compensating and restoring income to those affected by its rail project, although some NGOs have claimed that the bank has not followed some of the specifications.

Loans from China did not appear to have any such conditions.

“ADB stands by its very comprehensive and well-developed safeguards. That’s something that comes along with the loans,” Peter Brimble, deputy country head at ADB Cambodia, said yesterday.

Projects implemented by China happened more quickly than those by “other parties”, Tram Iv Teuk, Minister of Public Works and Transportation, added yesterday.

The railway rehabilitation project on the country’s northern and southern lines – of which the majority was funded by ADB – saw substantial setbacks earlier this year when concessional holder Toll Royal quietly suspended its operation, reportedly because the project was taking too long.

Now, a 300-kilometre section of track on the northern line lacks the funding to be completed, ADB said last month.

Finding new sources of funding was the responsibility of the government, the bank noted.

Yesterday’s announcement from the government met with strong opposition from Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay, saying Chinese companies have built low-quality roads and other infrastructure at higher interest rates.

“We don’t oppose the need to get funding to serve the national economy, but it must be done transparently,” he said, adding that no bidding process existed for such projects.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rann Reuy at ruey.rann@phnompenhpost.com

China may fund Cambodia-Vietnam rail (http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012061356758/Business/china-to-fund-cambodia-rail.html)
Wednesday, 13 June 2012 Rann Reuy

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/images/stories/news/national/2012/120613/120613_073.jpg
A tuk-tuk crosses railway tracks on the outskirts of Phnom Penh last year. Photograph: Heng Chivoan/Phnom Penh Post
Cambodia was in discussions with the Chinese government on funding for a 250-kilometre stretch of rail line between Phnom Penh and Vietnam, in what Cambodian officials yesterday called a move away from a “complicated” Asian Development Bank loan.

Va Sim Sorya, director general at the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation, said the government could do without the requirements tagged to ADB loans, and fund the project with up to US$600 million in Chinese backing.

“China doesn’t have so many conditions, but Chinese technicians are still well-studied,” he said yesterday at a workshop on infrastructure, although he did not specify which conditions were undesirable.

Interest rates on ADB concessional loans averaged an annual 1.32 per cent after grace periods, according to data compiled by NGO Forum for Cambodia last year.

China’s concessional lending held the highest rates from any institution or country at an average 1.83 per cent per year.

ADB’s social safeguard policy from 2009 listed several requirements for compensating and restoring income to those affected by its rail project, although some NGOs have claimed that the bank has not followed some of the specifications.

Loans from China did not appear to have any such conditions.

“ADB stands by its very comprehensive and well-developed safeguards. That’s something that comes along with the loans,” Peter Brimble, deputy country head at ADB Cambodia, said yesterday.

Projects implemented by China happened more quickly than those by “other parties”, Tram Iv Teuk, Minister of Public Works and Transportation, added yesterday.

The railway rehabilitation project on the country’s northern and southern lines – of which the majority was funded by ADB – saw substantial setbacks earlier this year when concessional holder Toll Royal quietly suspended its operation, reportedly because the project was taking too long.

Now, a 300-kilometre section of track on the northern line lacks the funding to be completed, ADB said last month.

Finding new sources of funding was the responsibility of the government, the bank noted.

Yesterday’s announcement from the government met with strong opposition from Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay, saying Chinese companies have built low-quality roads and other infrastructure at higher interest rates.

“We don’t oppose the need to get funding to serve the national economy, but it must be done transparently,” he said, adding that no bidding process existed for such projects.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rann Reuy at ruey.rann@phnompenhpost.com

^^ Finally!!!!!!! China is the best! They do things in a speeding light! Now we just need tracks in the Northern section of Cambodia. China will do it!

“China doesn’t have so many conditions, but Chinese technicians are still well-studied,” he said yesterday at a workshop on infrastructure, although he did not specify which conditions were undesirable.

Interest rates on ADB concessional loans averaged an annual 1.32 per cent after grace periods, according to data compiled by NGO Forum for Cambodia last year.

China’s concessional lending held the highest rates from any institution or country at an average 1.83 per cent per year.

ADB’s social safeguard policy from 2009 listed several requirements for compensating and restoring income to those affected by its rail project, although some NGOs have claimed that the bank has not followed some of the specifications.

Loans from China did not appear to have any such conditions.

“ADB stands by its very comprehensive and well-developed safeguards. That’s something that comes along with the loans,” Peter Brimble, deputy country head at ADB Cambodia, said yesterday.



Surprising that Cambodia is willing to pay more interest on loans rather low ones with some conditions set by the ADB, which could be good for people who get affected by the project. I hope all the money should be put into good use. If I were Cambodian citizen, I would rather borrow money with low interests, and respect human rights.

^^^
Cambodian can get cheaper rates of loan for railway line but with the price tags of allowing Chinese to settle along the railway line in 1000-5000 meter wide strips.

^^^
Cambodian can get cheaper rates of loan for railway line but with the price tags of allowing Chinese to settle along the railway line in 1000-5000 meter wide strips.

^^That's fine with me! We have many open spaces in the Eastern part of Cambodia. It's more important for cAMBODIA TO FINISH THIS RAILWAY! It will boost the economy!

^^That's fine with me! We have many open spaces in the Eastern part of Cambodia. It's more important for cAMBODIA TO FINISH THIS RAILWAY! It will boost the economy!

Of course, it is fine with you because you are not Cambodian.

Surprising that Cambodia is willing to pay more interest on loans rather low ones with some conditions set by the ADB, which could be good for people who get affected by the project. I hope all the money should be put into good use. If I were Cambodian citizen, I would rather borrow money with low interests, and respect human rights.

That's is what I want too...

Most Cambodian feel that they are living in a democracy country but the leader not yet.. And still follow VN, China...

Honestly VN leader are very smart... Make VN always win win in the past:
Under France win some land
Under Russia win some land, island and can spread they people and power to other countries..
Nowadays without Russia anymore but VN is turning to USA... Who know what that Khmer going to lost more in the future.

I was trying to tell him how to pronounce it right more a a few times. But, he still keeps doing the same thing pretending to be stupid about it. Don't you know lots of Thais still believe that Preah Vihear belongs to Thailand, not Cambodia? It does not matter how much we correct them, they won't listen. I don't mind if they call it the way they usually do in their forums. But, in international forums, Cambodia forum, for example, they should respect Cambodians by willing to spell Preah Vihear the way Cambodians and international community call it.

I think I can correct my dog easily better than people who really do not care and respect other people cultures.

^^ I am Thai and I feel very sorry for any unrespect comments in this forum. Most of the people in Thailand understand your statemnet, only small group of people which they use Preah Vihear issue as a politic issue. I feel ashame of these people.

Even though track rehab may be suspended, the demands for railway link is still existed. Therefore, Cambodian government is appealing Thai government to construction the 7 km railway line from Aranyaprathet to Poipet along with the new bridge to replace the dilapidated iron bridge to allow Thai railway to reach Poipet before going further by Cambodian railways to Battambang.

However, Thai government have to find the loan to finance the construction of 7-km track from Aranyaprathet to Poipet along with the new bridge and revive Klong Luek station at km 259+000 (4.5 km from Aranyaprathet)as the immigration control station. Not to mention massive rehab from Klong 19 Junction to Aranyaprathet to meet the new standard of 20 tons axle load with 100 kph for cargo trains and 120 kph for DMUs

http://www.manager.co.th/Home/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9550000073448

Google Earth KMZ file for Poipet 1974 aerial photo.
http://biochem.flas.kps.ku.ac.th/rft/Poipet1974.kmz

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll8/Mongwin/poipetge.jpg

Guys! can you please advice me which mode of transport is cheap and convenient to travel from bangkok to combodia capital city? thanks :)

^^ by plane use air asia about $50 to phnom penh, bkk air about $80, bus very cheap,
if you go siem reap dont use plane bkk air rip you off $150, use bus only about $20-25

Guys! can you please advice me which mode of transport is cheap and convenient to travel from bangkok to combodia capital city? thanks :)

Take an international bus between BKK to Phnom Penh which has been recently introduced ...

Mekong Express

Special Survey on Cambodian railway on Sisophon - Poipet section by Ajarn Ek
http://portal.rotfaithai.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=5658&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=70

do you guys think that rail is profitable here, for me planes are cheap for passengers, rail is only good for freight.

should we continue with rail or spend it elsewhere?

^^^
Well, Toll wants to run the cross border freight as you have already known ... but people also want to carry their products across the cities ... if not the border not just carrying themselves from cities to cities or going across the border... You know the rest of the stories, don't you ...

I've seen A lot of the conflicts of interests between the First Priority for Passenger trains vs. the First Priority for Freight trains to the point that when loco of passenger trains broken down while running, the railwaymen taken the loco from Freight trains just to quell the endless complaint from the passengers while causing really big outrage those companies who want their cargo to reach the destination ...

ZNltbUy3Ff8
MCOT (Modern 9 TV of Thailand) Documentary about Track Rehab in Cambodia along with the Norry

ZNltbUy3Ff8
MCOT (Modern 9 TV of Thailand) Documentary about Track Rehab in Cambodia along with the Norry

They need to hurry up on that rail way project. Lao government must take action!

Toll Royal to Restart Rail Services Next Month

:)

July 10, 2012

Less than four months after suspending work on Cambodia's dilapidated railway network, Toll Royal Railways (TRR), the network's operator, has informed the government that it will recommence transporting construction materials needed to build the southern line on Aug. 1, company officials said yesterday.

The decision to go back to work came after TRR, a joint venture between Australia's Toll Holdings and Cambodia's Royal.

Group, said it had suspended its work on March 31 for one year, telling the government that completion of the southern line to Sihanoukville was taking too long and that the project was no longer profitable.

"We [will] commence operations and will restart in order to complete the [southern] track line since it is nearly finished," Kith Meng, chairman of Royal Group, said yesterday, referring to an email sent by TRR to the government and dated June 22.

In that email, sent by TRR's CEO Bobby Louw and addressed to officials at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport—including the director of the Railway Department Ly Borin—the firm also states its intention to start operations again.

"Please be advised that Toll Royal Railway intends [on] restarting commercial train services between Phnom Penh and Touk Meas/Kampot on 1 August 2012," Mr. Louw said in the email obtained yesterday.

When TRR pulled out of the project, it also cut half of its 120 Cambodian staff. In May, a draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) showed that the project may require more families to be relocated along 6 km of the northern line in Poipet City due to inappropriate surveying techniques being carried out by the project's subcontractors.

It was unclear yesterday whether the staff on the project would be rehired, or if work on parts of the northern line would start again any time soon.

Only one of the network's three lines has been completed—48 km between Poipet and Serei Saophoan City in Banteay Meanchey province. Progress on the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville line is 61.5 percent complete, while the 386-km line between Phnom Penh and Poipet is just 27.8 percent complete, according to the draft MOU.

Putu Kamayana, country director of the ADB—which has so far contributed $84 million in funds to rehabilitate the network—welcomed Toll's decision to start work again.

'We believe that this will facilitate completion of the remaining rehabilitation work on the railway lines," he said in an email. "It will also enable the railway to resume transporting cement from Tuk Meas, which will generate some revenues for Toll Royal Railway."

The reinstatement of TRR's train services will mean quicker and less expensive delivery of 3,000 tons of cement to Kampot province every week.

The 266-km southern line from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville was initially expected to be completed in late 2011, but "poor construction methodology" delayed completion until October of this year, according to the MOU.

And there could be yet further delays.

Claude Petit country manager for TSO Cambodia, a subcontractor on the project said yesterday that the final 20 km heading to the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port is often under water during the wet season as the track currently runs below ground level. Train services are, therefore, not expected until at least March, he said.

"We are worried because we would like to finish the line as soon as possible, but after heavy rain the track line is lower than the street level and because there is new construction there, the water remains there stagnating," he said. "It is an issue that has to be dealt with by the authorities since it is not in our contract."

As well as TSO, Sino Pacific Construction Corp., a company based in Vietnam, is also working on the project as a subcontractor.

Despite the resumption of Toll's services on part of the southern line, the government still has to address where it plans to get the additional $50 million to $100 million in funds it will take to complete the project, said Mr. Bonn, director of the railway department inside the Ministry of Transportation.

"We still have not yet considered this issue and the ministry has not studied...how much will be needed to spend on the project" he said.

The total cost of the project so far stands at $141.6 million

ููู^^^
Same news here:

http://cambodiatrainspotter.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/12.jpg
http://cambodiatrainspotter.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/%E1%9E%80%E1%9F%92%E1%9E%9A%E1%9E%BB%E1%9E%98%E1%9E%A0%E1%9F%8A%E1%9E%BB%E1%9E%93-toll-royal-%E1%9E%85%E1%9E%B6%E1%9E%94%E1%9F%8B%E1%9E%95%E1%9F%92%E1%9E%8F%E1%9E%BE%E1%9E%98%E1%9E%9F%E1%9F%81/
http://cambodiatrainspotter.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/1.jpg
http://cambodiatrainspotter.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/toll-royal-to-restart-rail-services-next-month/

Here is the reason why the railway line from Aranyaprathet to Poitpet may have to change the route to cross the border at Ban Nong Ian, Moo 7, Tambon Thakham, Aranyaprathet district of Sakaeo which is in the opposite to Stoeng Bat village, Poipet Commune, O Charov District of Banteay meanchey and the new bridge across Phrom Hode canal (border canal)

This will compel SRT to construct the new railway line - at least 4-5 km - down from Klong Luek Checkpoint - not to mention about the new level crossing across Highway 33 (Suwannasorn road)
http://www.manager.co.th/Politics/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9550000020726
http://www.manager.co.th/daily/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9530000156047
http://www.sakaeo.go.th/websakaeo/news/news_file/1614Jan20111294988995150323071253.pdf

ADB country director heads for Myanmar (http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012071157334/Business/adb-country-director-heads-for-myanmar.html)
The Phnom Penh Post Wednesday, 11 July 2012 Stuart Alan Becker

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/images/stories/news/national/2012/120711/120711_08.jpg
Putu Kamayana, country director of the Asia Development Bank, speaks to the Post during an interview yesterday in Phnom Penh. Photograph: Meng Kimlong/Phnom Penh Post
Next week marks the departure of Asian Development Bank country director Putu Kamayana to open a Myanmar office for the Asian Development Bank.

He took time to reflect on his experience in Cambodia, his positive reaction to Toll Royal’s resumption of the Cambodia railway operations and his excitement about heading up an ADB presence in Myanmar.

Kamayana, 58, who arrived in Cambodia in September 2009 to serve as ADB country director, expects a railway freight service between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville to begin by early next year.

Kamayana said Toll Royal would enjoy the advantages of being operator of the project, enabling them to save money by carrying construction materials by rail.

“We’re glad to see Toll Royal resume their operations because that will facilitate the rehabilitation work, just by the ability of the trains to carry the needed materials. They will also be able to start earning revenues again,” he said.

“I think this is a very important example of a public-private partnership initiative. This project is so important for regional connectivity: to establish a rail link from Singapore to Sihanoukville and is bound to raise the efficiency and lower the cost of transporting freight within Cambodia was well as from Thailand and Malaysia down to Singapore.”

Kamayana said he expected the missing rail link between Kunming, China, and Singapore – the section from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City – to be completed in the future, for the economic benefit of all.

“We fully expect that rail link will happen in the future and that it will enable freight from Singapore all the way to Europe by rail and that’s phenomenal. It means lower cost of transport and having a good means to move freight to China, Russia and Europe.”

An Indonesian Hindu from Bali, Kamayana has spent the past 16 years working for the Asian Development Bank. Originally trained as an architect, he earned an MBA in San Diego.

He’s happy with the prospects for lower freight rates and regional integration now that Toll Royal is back in business on the Cambodian railways.

“Of course we’re happy. We feel this is a good project for them. We have experienced implementation delays because of various problems that have cropped up in carrying out the work. The resettlement issues have not really delayed the implementation.

“Because of the delays, they are incurring more costs than were being covered by revenues generated by transporting cement. When they come back we understand there is potential for them to find other clients. The railroad track has been rehabilitated beyond Kampot, so at least they can serve Kampot already,” he said.

Kamayana said it was important to have the railway operational during the rehabilitation work because it enabled the operator to bring in their own equipment at low cost instead of having to use trucks.

He retires in March 2014, but before that, he’s looking forward to his Myanmar assignment, starting July 30.

He previously served in Hanoi for two years as well as Dacca, Bangladesh, for four years and out of the ADB headquarters office in Manila, working in both Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

“I will be heading up ADB’s extended mission in Myanmar, which is tasked with the re-engagement of ADB with Myanmar, establishing an office there. I’m tremendously excited because this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

Kamayana said there were many things left to happen before a fully fledged ADB office could be opened in Myanmar. The multilateral development banks including ADB and the World Bank are still currently restricted from providing substantial assistance including lending to Myanmar until the sanctions have been removed.

Because the United States is now in the midst of a presidential election, with the US Congress opposing many of the Obama administration’s initiatives, a full lifting of Myanmar economic sanctions may be unlikely to happen this year.

“The administration could convince Congress to lift the sanctions, which probably won’t happen in an election year. The second way is to wait for the sanctions to expire. That’s what’s holding back the ADB and World Bank.

“I think the poor are hurt the most by sanctions.”

Myanmar’s natural economic advantages of a large land mass twice the size of Vietnam, 60 million people, a big coastline, oil and gas reserves, minerals and gems as well as tourism all showed great potential.

However, the country would require a sound regulatory system in order for economic development to really take off, he said.

“All of these businesses that want to come into Myanmar need solid legal and regulatory systems. All of the infrastructure, electric power, roads and the court system are needed in order for companies to make their investments.

“Who is going to finance them? The government needs foreign assistance for all of these things. Until the multilateral development banks are allowed to work there, things are not going to change very quickly, despite the Europeans lifting sanctions and despite American partial lifting. Who is going to risk it before things get much clearer?”

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/images/stories/news/national/2012/120711/120711_09.jpg
The Cambodian railway network and timelines. Courtesy ADB.

Kamayana described the present Myanmar government as “very reform minded”.

“They need to start showing results. Things are probably not going to move as fast as they had hoped. I think the reformists are feeling under pressure. They are drawing up a development strategy which is going to be approved soon that will set out their priorities in agricultural production, the education system, similar to what’s been done here in Cambodia.”

He suggested that Myanmar could learn lessons from Cambodia about building the capacity of government institutions and in the population with primary secondary, vocational and technical training.

“Lessons can be learned from Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, who have been through development. The financial sector needs to be modernised. All of these things have to be done and will have to be done in a systematic way that doesn’t overwhelm the authorities and the people so that it is realistic and achievable. It has to be done at a sound pace. It is a huge task to be closed for decades and suddenly open up without getting overwhelmed.”

Kamayana answered a few questions on the eve of his farewell to Cambodia:

What’s the most important thing the Cambodian government needs to change?

Civil service reform and compensation reform are needed in order to improve the efficiency of the government. Cambodia is already a relatively open economy, but I think more can be done to improve the enabling environment for the private sector to flourish. The private sector is the engine of growth. The government needs the private sector to play a pivotal role. It will enable the government to play the enabling role and regulating business to not take undue advantage of the people, but so the private sector can make fair profit and promote development of the country and that includes small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Unless you develop and enable SMEs you are not going to get large scale entrepreneurs. That’s the only way the economy will grow and tax revenues will increase so that government spending can increase too.

Do you think the era of the NGO is winding down?

No. There’s always a role for providing services for funding of charities. The capacity of the government is still limited. NGOs will still play an important role in providing services to the poor and most vulnerable people, the disabled, and the bottom rungs of society. No matter what, it will be a long time before the government has the resources and personnel to provide the same level of services across the whole country. NGOs also bring lessons from other countries facing similar situations, good ideas and best practices. We at ADB often engage them, consult with them, and engage them in delivering services on some of our projects.

Do you see a danger of Cambodia being swamped economically by her neighbours, Vietnam and Thailand?

I don’t think that’s the way they see it. It depends on how you manage it. I think there are good examples of how working together with neighbours can produce more benefits. That’s what we’ve been doing with our Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) project. We are building capacity in Cambodia as part of global supply chains.

Cambodia will benefit a great deal because of the advantages Cambodia has. People here are trainable, patient, and when they work they are meticulous. Certain types of work like manufacturing, electronics, which are already coming to Cambodia, the people here are good at. These jobs require patience. Vietnam has brought in finance, technology, rubber plantations, new knowledge, and management skills. These things just need to be managed.

What about the influence of China? Do you see Chinese influence here as a positive?

Of course China is a positive influence, because China is an important market for Cambodia and an important source of investment capital.

There is a lot of concern about excessive influence of China, and I think time will tell. I don’t pretend to understand everything, but I believe the government is prudent about managing good relations with China as it does with its ASEAN neighbours and other foreign donors who have helped them a lot.

What about influence from the US? Do you think the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is going to prevent a lot of US companies from doing business here?

I think the smart companies would go through individuals here and use the American Chamber of Commerce and decide whether the type of business they intend to do faces these kinds of risks.

I do understand the government is trying to rationalise these facilitation payments and make them legal and receiptable. I think that’s a solution, and I think the government realises that.

This anti-corruption law here is probably not a bad law at all. It requires implementation and capacity to monitor and enforce. That will take time.

What do you see as Japan’s role in developing Cambodia?

Japan was very much an important part of the peace process and recovery process. The first head of UN operations here was Japanese, and Japan has maintained important relations with Cambodia.

Japan has been instrumental in providing assistance in reconstruction.

Cambodia has become an attractive place for Japanese investors in manufacturing who are taking advantage of this young, trainable population.

It has a huge young population which really has potential for being employed in industries which can feed into assembly in other countries in the region.

If you could change the ADB in any way, how would you do it?

I would hope that ADB would be increasingly more decentralised by placing more specialists in-country because there’s a world of difference between being based in headquarters and being in-country and maintaining and developing relationships between your counterparts in government and civil society and monitoring the implementation of your projects and strengthening the capacity of institutions.

Having more people in the country offices will improve the quality of design and implementation and impact on the beneficiaries who are the poor. This is an extremely satisfying job and the good relationships we’ve managed to maintain and strengthen with the government and other stakeholders have led to providing good technical advice, building capacity and investments across a wide spectrum of sectors which will help the government to reduce poverty through sustainable economic growth.

I’m happy to have helped develop railroad projects, provincial road networks, programs that teach farmers how to sort and package vegetables so they last longer.

According to your own observations and study, what’s the most effective means of fighting poverty?

You can’t reduce poverty sustainably by working in just one area. You have to look at all the different systems and make sure that you improve things in a way which then work together to create a bigger impact. For instance, most of the poor live in rural areas and most depend on agriculture for a living. If you can improve their productivity, increase their production through better seeds, easier access to fertiliser and technology, methodology and extension services, you will help to improve productivity.

You need to improve irrigation and improve rural roads to get access to inputs and send products to market but also have easier access to schools and health services. You need to also improve the infrastructure in the towns and provincial capitals where these markets will be for farmers to sell products. There also needs to be improvement measures at the border; customs procedure and transport agreements that allow trucks to move quickly across borders without having to offload and load again. That’s trade facilitation. All of these things we try to work on. In the financial sector, we work on setting up rules and regulations to monitor the banking system better and to provide easier access to finance for the poor and rural farmers. Most of the banking services are in urban areas.

We looked at government’s strategy and priorities, and we looked at our experience and lessons and we tried to focus on fewer sectors so that we could have a greater impact with whatever resources we could apply: agriculture, water resource management, transport (rural and provincial) financial sector, education, and vocational training to build up the skills of the labour force.

We’ve also focused on urban development, including sanitation in provincial towns and public sector management including public financial management, decentralisation and de-concentration, as well as measures to promote good governance and combat corruption. That’s the essence of our strategy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart Alan Becker at stuart.becker@gmail.com

Latest report by ADB

1.Southern Line
1.1. The 110-km section between Samrong (សំរោង - km. 12.036) and Tuk Meas (ទូកមាស - km. 118.600 Southern line) opened to traffic in October 2010. Commercial traffic between K-Cement’s factory (Kampot Cement) in Tuk Meas and Phnom Penh (3,000 tons per week) started in the same month.

1.2. The 146-km section between Touk Meas (km. 118.600 Southern line) and Sihanoukville (km. 262.600 Southern line) is expected to open to traffic in late 2012.

2. Northern Line
2. 1. The 10-km section from Phnom Penh (ភ្នំពេញ - km 0.000) to Samrong (សំរោង - km. 12.036) was repaired and opened for low-speed traffic in October 2010. The section is being upgrade to 20 tons axle load, which is expected to be completed in October 2012 to match opening of traffic to Sihanoukville. Opening years for the track components of the project.
2.2. The 21-km section from Samrong (សំរោង - km. 12.036) to Bat Deong (បាត់ដឹង - km. 31.443) is rehabilitated and will open for traffic in June 2012.

2.3 The 48-km Missing Link between Sisophon (សិរីសោភ័ណ្ឌ - km 337.310) to Poipet (ប៉ោយប៉ែត - km 384.300) and Poipet (ប៉ោយប៉ែត - km 384.300) to the Thai border ( 385) is being reconstructed to 20 tons axle load and is nearing completion. The first 42 km to Poipet will be completed in May 2012 and the remaining 6 km through Poipet is expected to be completed in late 2012. Actual re-connection to the railway network in Thailand depends on reconstruction of the last 6 km of track of the border railway line from Aranya Phrathet Station in Thailand. This is expected to be completed in 2013 or early 2014.

2.4 The 306-km section between Bat Deong (បាត់ដឹង - km. 31.443) and Sisophon (សិរីសោភ័ណ្ឌ - km 337.310) is expected to be opened in several phases between 2014 and 2015.

3. Spur Lines
3.1 The section from Sihanoukville Station into Sihanoukville Port, where the existing post track is being rehabilitated, will open in October 2012.
3.2 The section from Phnom Penh to the Green Trade Warehouse complex and the Port of Phnom Penh will be upgraded to 20 tons axle load at low speed (15 km/hour). It is expected that this
section will open to traffic in 2013.

4. Freight Facilities
4.1 The new container yard in Sihanoukville Port is expected to open in 2014. The timing is determined by the site for the new container yard, which is a filled-pond that requires several years to settle before construction can start. In the meantime, existing tracks inside the port will be used for container operations.
4.2 The new freight and maintenance facility in Samrong is expected to open in 2014, in step with opening of the new container yard in Sihanoukville. In the interim, the existing track in Phnom Penh Station will be used for container operations.

http://www2.adb.org/Documents/Produced-Under-Loans/37269/37269-013-cam-briefing-sheet-02.pdf

Poipet City authorities have given dozens of families living along a section of railway slated for renovation 10 days to move or face forcible eviction.
Cambodia Daily July 18,2012 Posted by cambodiatrainspotter
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Poipet families told to make way for train (http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012071857484/National-news/poipet-families-told-to-make-way-for-train.html)
The Phnom Penh Post Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Shane Worrell and Phak Seangly

Families living along a planned national train route in Poipet town were told they have 10 days to vacate their properties or be forcibly evicted, residents and NGOs said yesterday.

Eang Vuthy, Development Watch Program Manager of Equitable Cambodia, said an eviction notice from the Poipet City Hall warned of destruction if the families, in Banteay Meanchey province, did not re*move their houses and other structures from the land.

“The last sentence mentions that if they miss the deadline, City Hall will take firm action according to the law and will not be responsible for damage and loss,” Vuthy said. “[Families] are very scared because ... they thought they would have the chance to negotiate,” he said.

About 700 families have moved from the area in Poipet town to make way for the Rehabilitation of the Railway in Cambodia Project, which involves the government and is funded mainly by the Asian Development Bank and the Australian government’s AusAID.

This notice, Vuthy said, contradicted ADB’s Office of the Special Project Facilitator, which had forsworn forced evictions.

Resident An Theth, 42, said he is yet to be compensated.

“I will not move out if I do not get compensation,” he said.

Provincial hall spokesman Uk Keo Rattanak said, however, that every affected family had received compensation.

“It is their obligation to leave there,” he said, adding that he didn’t expect forced evictions.

ADB said it believed the notice was for families who had built in the area after a cut-off date.

“The notice was not sent to households within the Poipet station whose structures are totally affected,” it said.

บริษัทจีนวางแผนจะผลัก Toll Royal Railways ให้ออกจากสัมปทาน 30 ปี แล้วเข้าบริหารจัดการงานบูรณะทางรถไฟทั้งหมดของกัมพูชา รวมทั้งก่อสร้างเส้นทางใหม่ไปนครโฮจิมินห์ด้วย โดยวางแผนลงทุนถึงเกือบ 850 ล้านดอลล่าร์

$850m backing for Cambodia's railways (http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012082158175/Business/850m-backing-for-cambodias-railways.html)
The Phnom Penh Post Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Gregory Pellechi and Don Weinland

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/images/stories/news/national/2012/120821/120821_01b.jpg
Workers manning a railway. Photograph: Sovan Philong/Phnom Penh Post

A company with ties to one of China’s top state-owned firms will look to push Toll Royal Railways and its local partner Royal Group of Companies out of a 30-year railroad concession with pledge to invest nearly US$850 million to revamp existing lines and build an additional one.

The company, Rail Services (Cambodia) Ltd, pitched its plan for what it calls “Kampuchea Rail” to government officials on August 3, Chairman and Chief Executive Daryl Dealehr said a company statement obtained by the Post.

With backing from Sino-Pacific Construction Consultancy Co, Ltd, Rail Services, along with Hikmat Asia Sdn Bdh of Malaysia, claimed that they were prepared to invest nearly $850 million in Cambodia’s existing rail lines that run between Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh and the Thai border, and build a link from the capital to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The Cambodian government watched as Toll Royal cargo trains on its southern line rolled to a halt on May 1, weeks after the Post reported that the Australian company would suspend operations in the Kingdom.

Neither Toll or the government have commented publicly on the matter, although local media reported that cargo shipments would resume this month.

Rail Services yesterday in a statement hammered on that fact, listing the numerous issues that have plagued Toll Royal through the rehabilitation, including Toll’s failure to restart the cargo shipments, lack of investment, and seeking concessional fee waivers.

The statement failed to mention that the delays may have been caused by the resettlement of over 1,000 households, an issue that proved problematic for the project and garnered international condemnation due to the government’s handling of the issue.

The statement said, “Toll Royal: ceased existing rail services and operations in February 2012; retrenched the majority of its workforce; has not invested in rolling stock and equipment; has not undertaken rail infrastructure improvements supplementing the existing rail network; advised the [Royal Cambodian Government] it was unlikely to recommence rail operations before March 2013; and demanded that the RGC forgo concession fees for years five through eight and half of year nine, amounting to a waiver of revenues estimated in excess of $9.5 million.”

Rail Services’ pitch should sound tempting to Cambodian officials, as it offers up to $850 million in foreign direct investment after years of concessional loans from regional donors. Rail Services said it would “at no cost to the RGC [. . .] fully finance [the project]”.

In return, Rail Services would operate the railway concession between Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City for at least 60 years and seek to list on the Cambodian Stock Exchange upon completion of the Kingdom’s current rail network.

The current concession for the northern and southern lines would be extended from 30 to 40 years for Rail Services.

To work, either Toll Royal would need to give up its 30-year concession or the government would need to declare Toll in violation of its contract and push the company out.

Meanwhile, a Chinese consulting firm has surveyed the 280-kilometre link with Vietnam; previously no company has publicly shown interest in its development, let alone pledged up to $750 million needed to finance it.

Rail Services’ interest in connecting the network to Vietnam is part of its plan to “postion Cambodia as a true-subregional transport hub”, which would require further investment on the company’s part to create additional rail spurs, intermodal rail and freight terminals and connections to the Special Economic Zones that can be found along the line.

The offering includes the $90 million to shore up the northern line shortfall and complete the rail rehabilitation; construction of a railway mechanical and technical trade school as well as a repair facility in Bat Doeng; and investment in Sihanoukville port, Poipet, Sisophon, Battambang, Pursat, Bat Doeng, Kampot and other locations.

“The government is considering the proposal. There was some interest in it. They were very polite and are considering its elements,” said Rail Services spokesman Dealehr.

Chinese State Firm in Talks To Take Over Rail Project (http://cambodiatrainspotter.wordpress.com/2012/08/21/chinese-state-firm-in-talks-to-take-over-rail-project/)
Philip Heijmans, The Cambodia Daily. 21 August. 2012
Posted on August 21, 2012 by cambodiatrainspotter

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Khmer language version
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Railway Family Payouts Could Be Increased (http://cambodiatrainspotter.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/14.jpg)
Posted on August 22, 2012 by cambodiatrainspotter
Zsombor Peter, The Cambodia Daily, Aug. 22 2012

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Bank Would Back Firm to Take Over Rail Project (http://cambodiatrainspotter.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/3.jpg)
Posted on August 22, 2012 by cambodiatrainspotter
Philip Heijmans, The Cambodia Daily, Aug. 22 2012

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Phnom Penh's rail freight services begin (http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012082358231/Business/phnom-penhs-rail-freight-services-begin.html)
The Phnom Penh Post Thursday, 23 August 2012 Stuart Alan Becker

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/images/stories/news/national/2012/120823/120823_01.jpg
A train bound for Kampot province departs Phnom Penh yesterday. The train will take on 25 carloads of cement before returning to the capital. Photograph: Meng Kimlong/Phnom Penh Post

Railway freight services between Phnom Penh and Touk Meas commune, in Kampot province’s Banteay Meas district, the location of a Siam Cement factory about 40 kilometres north of Kampot town, began yesterday, finally putting the Toll Royal Railways concession on an earning basis.

According to Toll Royal Railways CEO David Kerr, the service will extend to Kampot town by the end of September and all the way to the Sihanoukville port by the end of this year.

Kerr said Siam Cement required a capacity of 1,000 tonnes of cement per week and that would increase over time to 2,000 tonnes per week. “We have the capacity to run several thousand tonnes per week,” Kerr said.

While he would not give prices for Toll Royal’s freight rates, Kerr said they were competitive with road trucking rates and that each train would take more than 50 trucks off the road. “Overloaded trucks accelerate depreciation of the roads,” he said. “The savings for government on road maintenance is significant.”

Kerr, who started work on the rehabilitation of train services in Cambodia in 2009 and has recently returned from Australia to resume his CEO position, said Toll Royal Railways had received ISO9000 accreditation as a commercial rail operator, the only such rail company in Asia to do so.

“We have a new train control system, new safe working systems, 15 locomotives, two from China and another 13 from France.”

He said the current freight volumes would not require additional rolling stock. Yesterday’s train to Touk Meas was 500 metres long and the locomotives are capable of running trains up to one kilometre long.

Train services began in October 2010, but with delays in track rehabilitation, train services had been suspended until yesterday, Kerr said. Other freight to be hauled along the line will include salt from Kampot and blocks of rice husks heading south from Phnom Penh for burning in the cement factory, instead of importing coal. The cement trains will run every two or three days, he said.

Service to Kampot is waiting for works to be completed on the Kampot viaduct and thence to Veal Rinh commune in Preah Sihanouk province’s Prey Nop district, about 50 kilometres south, followed by the remaining 50 kilometres to Sihanoukville. Work on track rehabilitation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The southern line between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville has six “passing loops” which allow trains moving in opposite directions to get out of each other’s way.

“We’ll be able to offer container services to shipping lines, and we’ll be competitive with trucks. We can also transport and coal and gypsum from Sihanoukville up to the cement factory,” Kerr said. “To see trains up and running again is a fantastic result for consumers in Cambodia, for consumers and for shareholders.”

With regard to works on the Northern Line that connects Phnom Penh with Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet commune in O’Chou district on the Thai border, Kerr said agreement had been reached this week between Cambodia and Thailand on the reconstruction of the missing six kilometres of railway tracks in Thailand and construction of the Thai-Cambodian border railway bridge.

“The 48 kilometres of missing link in Cambodia is almost completed from Poipet to Sisophon, with concrete sleepers that can take 20-tonne axle loads,” he said. The railway tracks between Phnom Penh and the Bat Doeng junction 32 kilometres north, the future junction of the proposed Vietnam line, have been rehabilitated to accommodate 15-tonne axle loads, according to Kerr.

“We did track inspections up there on Sunday. With some minor track repairs, it could be ready for slow-speed train operations in the next couple of months,” he said. “We will be in a position to start moving rice as soon as they give us the tracks. We have the locomotives and wagons. Our objective is as soon as the line is open, to run trains.”

While Toll Royal Railways is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the railway, the rehabilitation of the line is provided by a French company called TSO, which is contracted to Cambodia’s Ministry of Public Works, with financing provided by the Asian Development Bank, AusAID, the OPEC Fund of International Development, the Cambodian government and a grant from the Malaysian government.

Kerr, who also serves as director of the Greater Mekong Sub-region Business Forum, said feeder services would eventually spread Cambodia’s economic capability via Laem Chabang Port near Pattaya, Thailand, the new Phnom Penh River Port, and the port at Sihanoukville.

“There will be multiple freight outlets for Cambodia. The benefit is a connection with Thailand to serve Laem Chabang; a connection with Vietnam to serve Kai Mep, and a connection to Sihanoukville as well as feeder services through Asia," said Kerr.

"Toll is a global logistics player and we leverage off the strength of Kith Meng and the Royal Group which are a very strong local partner. I think that’s the strength of this concession.”

Rail Operator Restart Train Service to Kampot (http://cambodiatrainspotter.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/rail-operator-restart-train-service-to-kampot/)
Posted on August 23, 2012 by cambodiatrainspotter
Philip Heijmans, The Cambodia Daily, Aug. 23 2012

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Toll resumes railway operations between Phnom Penh and Touk Meas (http://www2.adb.org/projects/cam-railway/default.asp#time20)
ADB 22 August 2012

The 500 meter long train crossing National Road Nr.3 to Kampot. Photo: Arnold Marseille. More photos
A five hundred meters long cargo train is lined up at Phnom Penh Station for departure to Touk Meas in Kampot province. Its 26 wagons are empty now, but will return on Friday full with cement of the K-cement company. "Each wagon takes two heavy trucks of the road", tells David Kerr, CEO of Toll Royal Railways, which has been granted the business operations on the rehabilitated railway network of Cambodia. "The roads will soon be so much safer, and the reduction in road maintenance costs for the Cambodian government will be tenfold."

Toll initially started its operations in October 2010, but suspended its weekly trains to Touk Meas in April this year, awaiting further progress on the railway constructions towards Kampot city and further down south to the port of Sihanoukville. The track to Kampot is ready now and once final works on the viaduct of Kampot have been completed by the end of September, Toll will also bring down cement from Touk Meas to Kampot city.

Kerr expects that trains can reach the port in Sihanoukville by this Christmas and commence freight transport from and to the port in the first quarter of 2013. "From Kampot we will also start with transport of salt. And once we start operations from the port things will really kick off with container transport, export of cement, timber, and import of coals for example", says Kerr.

The 118 km to Touk Meas currently takes a little over four hours, but will be reduced to about 2,5 hours once construction works on road crossings and bridges have been fully completed. The first 15 km from Phnom Penh station to the north-south junction at Samrong Estate the train does not go faster than 20-25 km per hour, with many houses, shops and market stalls situated as close as 3.5 meters from the track. The locomotive horn roars almost non-stop to alert people walking along and over the track and to bring the heavy traffic over each crossing to a stand-still. At the busier crossings are barriers and railway staff to manage the traffic. It may take some time for people to get used to the trains running again.

Train supply agreement signed .
Thursday, 20 September 2012Stuart Alan Becker..
(L to R) Tram Iv Tek, Peter Ng Meng Cheng, Peter Brimble, Kith Meng, David Kerr and S Premjith. Photograph: Hong Menea/Phnom Penh Post
Toll Royal Railway signed an agreement yesterday afternoon with companies that will supply locomotives and parts for Cambodia’s railway network.

As a result of the agreement, international tenders will be called in the coming months for the procurement of up to four new 2,000-horsepower locomotives and 100 new container wagons.

A strong contender to be the equipment supplier is one of the world’s largest makers of locomotives, France’s Alstom Transport, because 10 of the company’s locomotives are already in the possession of Toll Royal Railways. In a ceremony at Cambodiana Hotel, Cambodia’s Minister of Public Works and Transport Tram Iv Tek joined Royal Group’s Kith Meng, Toll Royal Railway CEO David Kerr and Richz Electronic Services’ Peter Ng Meng Cheng and a number of others to sign a memorandum of understanding.

“We have been waiting for the opening of the southern line. We’re going to buy some more locomotives. We will call for a transparent international tender,” said Toll’s David Kerr.

“This agreement is for OEM components. It puts Alstom in a good position where they are, but they will be subject to a transparent process,” Kerr said. “We’ll be working with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, with a concession management committee and a new railway department to make sure the process is totally transparent.”

Yesterday’s MOU is seen as the necessary precursor for the acquisition of new rolling stock for Cambodia’s railway transport system, of which the southern line to Sinhanoukville is schedule to open by the end of this year, the northern line to Battambang is estimated to open in 2014 or 2015.

Cambodia’s Minister for Public Works and Transport HE Tram Iv Tek said yesterday’s ceremony had been a long time coming.

“We need modern locomotives and rolling stock for Cambodia. Up to now we just fixed old locomotives. This is the first step in new railway activity and now because of this ceremony Toll will make a business plan for Cambodia.”

Minister Tram Iv Tek said the advantages of trains were fewer trucks on the road and a lower carbon footprint for Cambodia.

“The advantages are fewer trucks on the road and fighting against the climate change,” he said. “We will now discuss with Toll to seek the solution of how to complete the northern line.”

The Asian Development Bank’s Peter Brimble described the event as an important step in the development of Cambodia’s railway system.

“This is a key enabling factor to permit this project to go to the next stage of fund raising and development from the point of view of the concessionaire,” Brimble said. “It means that they are going to be sourcing blue chip equipment which then will support the funding of those purchases.

Brimble said the completion of the southern line would bring transport capability that would also speed the completion of the northern line, both of which would contribute to Cambodia’s overall economic integration and growing status as a regional hub.

“Cambodia will become a possible place of choice for people looking to locate and people to live. They are already doing that with Japanese firms coming in. I think Cambodia is developing in to a kind of hub and this railroad is part of that hub.”

Brimble said that from ADB’s point of view, there remained a full commitment to successfully completing Cambodia’s critical infrastructure projects. “We are not a party to the railway concession agreement, but we see it as a critical part of the process. With the concession agreement in place, we can work with the government and private stakeholders to get this project completed.”

Royal Group Chairman Kith Meng said the agreement would change the dynamic of the transport business.

“This will bring most of the transport business from trucks onto the railroads. It will also give competitiveness in terms of pricing, since Cambodia is part of ASEAN and we are the chair of ASEAN this year. This signing is symbolic that Cambodia is a good place to invest,” he said. Other companies involved in the parts supply are Singaporean-owned Richz Electronic Services and Romic-Ace International Pte Ltd, both authorised resellers for Alstom, the giant French supplier of locomotives. Richz Electronic Services’ Chairman Peter Ng Meng Cheng said the signing ceremony was the culmination of talks that had taken place since last year.

“They found that we are a good strategic partner and contribute to their operation.”

Also on hand was Singapore Ambassador HE S Premjith, who said “I’m very happy that a Singapore company is participating in a key project in Cambodia that will potentially be a game changer for Cambodia’s economic competitiveness”.

Others joining the event were Robert Coleman, Managing Director of Romic-Ace International Pte Ltd, specialising in rail spare parts and equipment, as well as Yannick Bazerque, Director of Alstom Transport Services and Vinojit Ambalavaner, director of Toll Royal Railway.


http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012092058822/Business/train-supply-agreement-signed.html

^^^
4 Doi Moi Locos from CSR?

According to EXIM Bank (Thailand) on September 2012, there are the disputes whether the rail link from Aranyaprathet to Poipet will be at the following route:

1. the old route with the distance of 6 km (Aranyaprathet - Klong Luek - Poipet) - got stuck with Rong Kluea Market and Casino in Poipet.
2. the new route with the distance of 12 km (Aranyaprateht - Ban Nong Ian [the new Checkpoint] - Poipet) - need new land ex-appropriation

After the line has been settled, the construction can be started and done to be opened by the end of 2013 ...

http://www.ryt9.com/s/exim/1500020

..Toll Royal Railways expands .
Friday, 12 October 2012Erika Mudie..
Toll Royal Railways CEO David Kerr speaks at a signing ceremony yesterday, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012, in Phnom Penh. Photograph: Heng Chivoan/Phnom Penh PostToll Royal Railways signed two freight logistics agreements with Siam Concrete Group and United Logistics and Distribution at their offices in Phnom Penh’s Central Railway Station yesterday.

SCG Cambodia contracted TRR for the transport and warehousing for bagged cement from Touk Meas in Kampot province to Phnom Penh, said David Kerr in a press conference yesterday.

Kerr believes January 2013 will bring an additional opportunity for TRR to transport SCG’s bagged cement to Sihanoukville.

“It’s been announced that the line will be open through to the port of Sihanoukville in January 2013,” he said. “This opens up further opportunities for us to work with SCG in the transport of domestic bagged cement to Sihanoukville and the import of up to 8,000 tonnes of coal per month.”

Beyond the line to Sihanoukville port, Kerr spoke of possibilities for transport to the north for mining products, oil and bitumen.

He also mentioned the transport of rice into Thailand when the rehabilitation of the “missing link” between Cambodia’s border crossing at Poipet and Thailand’s Aranyaprathet is completed. However, dates for when these lines will be in operation are not yet known.

Lia Giang, ULD’s general manager, expressed similar sentiments.

“ULD Cambodia looks forward to further development on the railway service, in particular the transport of salt and rice with the support of Toll Railway.”

The agreement with ULD is for the transport and warehousing of bagged salt from Kampot to Phnom Penh and of bagged rice from Battambang to Phnom Penh and Kampot. The first trainload of salt under this agreement was moved on September 24.

Kerr commented on the commitment from the government and the private sector to transporting goods via railways and roads.

“The interest in Cambodia has been strong with people being interested in signing 30-year contracts,” he said. “We have a 30-year concession with the government and people are that committed to the project that they’re looking at extended terms.”

Penny Richards, Ambassador of Australia to Cambodia, was in attendance yesterday due to Australia’s involvement in the railway rehabilitation project in Cambodia. Also in attendance were Chan Sothy, director of the Department of Investment and Cooperation in the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Kerr mentioned the importance of railways to realising the government’s goal of exporting one million tonnes of rice by 2015. When asked about how railway transport will fit with waterways also being developed for the same goal through foreign investors, Kerr said he sees a lot of potential for cooperation.

“Where roads aren’t high developed, [the products] can come in through feeder vessels into the new river port and then they can be distributed either by waterways or by rail.”


http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012101259265/Business/toll-royal-railways-expands.html

SRT pushing forward for Aranyaprathet - Poipet through the old route - telling those illegally occupied SRT land to move out by the end of October 2012 (http://www.matichon.co.th/news_detail.php?newsid=1350127420&grpid&catid=19&subcatid=1906)
Matichon 13 October 2012 - 18:22:20

SRT has made announcement that as Cabinet has allocated the budget in the year BE 2556 (1 October 2012 - 30 September 2013) to construct the 6-km railway line from Aranyaprathet to Poipet with the total distance of 6 km which is supposed to be started in December 2012, SRT has to survey and remove all the infrastructure, illegally occupied buildings within 20 meter radius from the center of the track ... so the contract of land leasing along Aranyaprathet - Poipet have to terminated while those illegally occupied the railway line have to go and all the land plots have to be returned back to SRT by the end of October 2012.

http://cambodiatrainspotter.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/untitled-2.gif
The Southern line to Kamphong Som (Sihanoukville) will be opened in January 2013 (Cambodia Daily 12 October 2012)
http://cambodiatrainspotter.wordpress.com/2012/10/12/southern-railway-line-to-be-done-by-january/

Do the trains look different or are they the same still?

is that rail project from phnom penh to ho chi minh cancelled or what doesnt seem to have any news about it

^^^
Not securing the loan from China yet ... and the route has to go up North to Kampong Cham which require the new bridge across Mekhong

Railway rehab on the Northern line (Phnom Phenh - Poipet) ends at km 378+500 - as the activities has been suspended on 21 July 2012 - Construction of Sisophon - Bridge across Tuek Thala river not started yet

Progress in August 2012:
Southern line: 81.9% done while Tuek meas -Sihanukville is 78.1% done
Northern line: No progress since July 2012
Phnom Penh to Sisophon is 4.1% done
Siophon - Poipet is 70.7% done - the activities has been suspended on 21 July 2012
http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/projdocs/2012/37269-013-cam-emr-17.pdf

Here is the current state of Cambodian railway (November 2012) as broadcast by Thai PBS at Friday Night of 14 December 2012 - Courtesy from Ajarn Ek (หม่องวิน มอไซ)

Cambodian railway in November 2012 broadcast in ASEAN Beyond 2015 by Thai PBS on 14 December 2012 at 10-11 PM

Border Bridge across Klong Luek at km 260 + 449 --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XlsXzUghII#t=25m15s

New railway track in Poipet and Norry in Battambang --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XlsXzUghII#t=32m30s

9XlsXzUghII
Published on Dec 14, 2012 by ladyHugsy Hugme

Here is the current status of Poipet - Sisophon section while the section from Poipet to Border bridge has not been changed since Mid July 2012


Photo from the ASEAN Beyond 2015 hosted by Ms. Farida Yothasamut

the concrete sleeper yard at the mango orchard just 6 km away from the border - take a look at the section with ballast and without ballast - already have a level crossing - taking a look at the east to Sisophon
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll8/Mongwin/poipetaseanbeyond1_zps2e456871.jpg

EOL at the concrete sleeper yard with concrete sleepers as the sign of EOL - looking at the west to Aranyaprathet
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll8/Mongwin/poipetaseanbeyond2_zps1571c3c2.jpg

Map showing the concrete sleeper yard - EOL and the section with ballast
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll8/Mongwin/poipetaseanbeyond3_zps2290a7d5.jpg

Here is the coordinate of the place in question
--> https://maps.google.co.th/?ll=13.63285,102.601919&spn=0.011532,0.021007&t=h&z=16

Thai-Cambodian meet touches on crucial issues (http://tna.mcot.net/mcot-testing/site/content?id=50da616a150ba098020000b5)
MCOT By Digital Media | 26 Dec 2012 09:31

BANGKOK, Dec 26 – Economic cooperation between Thailand and Cambodia along their common borders will be upgraded to emphasise road and railway construction, and opening more checkpoints, according to the Thai foreign ministry.

The resolution was made during the 8th Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission, held in Bangkok on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul and his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong attended the meeting.

Sihasak Puangketkaew, permanent secretary for foreign affairs, said among the essential issues discussed were the opening of permanent checkpoints at Ban Nong Eiang in Sa Kaeo province linking Stung Bot in Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey province, development of Route 48 from Thailand’s Trat province to Cambodia’s Sihanoukville, and a railway extension from the Aranyaprathet checkpoint on Thailand’s eastern border into Cambodia.

The Thai and Cambodian representatives agreed to a land survey for border demarcation, joint suppression of human trafficking and illegal logging of Siamese rosewood on the border, he said.

An MoU will be signed agreeing a single visa under the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS).

ACMECS is a cooperation framework among Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam to join member countries’ diverse strengths and to promote balanced development in the sub-region.

Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Surapong hosted a dinner function in honour of Mr Hor Namhong on Tuesday night.

The Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission which reconvenes after a two-year recess is a signal of an improved relationship between the two countries, the Thai foreign minister said. (MCOT online news)

Train service relaunched between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville (http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=M2EzNWQ4OWY4Mjk1MDY1ODQxNDE5YjQ0YThkMTNm)
The Cambodia Herald 28-DEC-12 11:08AM

PHNOM PENH (The Cambodia Herald) - The government was to resume rail services between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville Friday in collaboration with Toll Royal Co, Richz Electronic Services and the Asian Development Bank, sources said

On September 19, Toll and Richz signed an agreement to to buy rolling stock for the 266-kilometer railway.

The ADB financed $84 million of the railway's restoration with the Australian government contributing $21.5 million, OPEC $13 million, the Cambodian government $20.3 million and Malaysia $2.8 million.

Cambodia's first commercial train begins operation (http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2012-12/28/content_27541937.htm)
Xinhua, December 28, 2012

Cambodia's modern railway system on Friday commenced commercial rail operations on the 256- kilometer"Southern Line" between the capital city of Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville Port.

The launching was made after years of renovation with the financial support from the Asian Development Bank and development partners. "ADB welcomes this first commercial train service to the Port of Sihanoukville which marks a significant development towards the completion of the long-awaited Pan-Asian railroad -- a contiguous "Iron Silk Road" stretching from Singapore to Scotland," the bank said in a statement Friday.

Speaking at the service launching, Minister of Public Works and Transport Tram Iv Tek said the new railway will bring a range of benefits to Cambodia. "It will lower the cost of staple commodities that poor Cambodian families depend on,"he said."Also, it will improve road safety by taking dangerous cargoes, such as the fuel trucks driving between the oil terminal in Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh, off the roads."

In addition, he said, it will position Cambodia as a true sub- regional transportation hub, reducing the time and costs of transporting a range of products.

According to ADB, another 337 kilometer"Northern Line", linking Phnom Penh to Poipet and Thailand, is expected to be opened in phases between 2014 and 2015.

The total project cost of the Greater Mekong Sub-region Rehabilitation of the Railway project in Cambodia, amounting to 141.6 million U.S. dollars, is financed by an ADB loan of 84 million U.S. dollars, a Cambodian government contribution of 20.3 million U.S. dollars, an Australian grant of 21.5 million U.S. dollars, an OPEC Fund for International Development loan of 13 million U.S. dollars and a Malaysian grant of 2.8 million U.S. dollars.

CAMBODIA-PHNOM PENH-COMMERCIAL TRAIN-LAUNCH
28 December 2012 / 15:40

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll8/Mongwin/cambodiatrain_zps4a2df80a.jpg
(121228) -- PHNOM PENH, Dec. 28, 2012 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Minister of Public Works and Transport Tram Iv Tek speaks during the on the launching ceremony for the country's first commercial train in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Dec. 28, 2012. Cambodia's modern railway system on Friday commenced commercial rail operations on the 256- kilometer "Southern Line" between the capital city of Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville Port. (Xinhua/Phearum)(zjl)

^^^
More details are here:
Cambodia's first commercial train begins operation
shanghai daily 28 December 2012

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's modern railway system on Friday commenced commercial rail operations on the 256- kilometer"Southern Line" between the capital city of Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville Port.

The launching was made after years of renovation with the financial support from the Asian Development Bank and development partners. "ADB welcomes this first commercial train service to the Port of Sihanoukville which marks a significant development towards the completion of the long-awaited Pan-Asian railroad -- a contiguous "Iron Silk Road" stretching from Singapore to Scotland," the bank said in a statement Friday.

Speaking at the service launching, Minister of Public Works and Transport Tram Iv Tek said the new railway will bring a range of benefits to Cambodia. "It will lower the cost of staple commodities that poor Cambodian families depend on,"he said."Also, it will improve road safety by taking dangerous cargoes, such as the fuel trucks driving between the oil terminal in Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh, off the roads."

In addition, he said, it will position Cambodia as a true sub- regional transportation hub, reducing the time and costs of transporting a range of products.

According to ADB, another 337 kilometer"Northern Line", linking Phnom Penh to Poipet and Thailand, is expected to be opened in phases between 2014 and 2015.

The total project cost of the Greater Mekong Sub-region Rehabilitation of the Railway project in Cambodia, amounting to 141.6 million U.S. dollars, is financed by an ADB loan of 84 million U.S. dollars, a Cambodian government contribution of 20.3 million U.S. dollars, an Australian grant of 21.5 million U.S. dollars, an OPEC Fund for International Development loan of 13 million U.S. dollars and a Malaysian grant of 2.8 million U.S. dollars.

http://www.bta.bg/en/gallery/image/490815
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.asp?id=116174
//------------------------

http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/images/upload/cambodia/M2EzNWQ4OWY4Mjk1MDY1ODQxNDE5YjQ0YThkMTNm/760_450/Cambodia%27s%20Railway%20Station%20in%20Phnom%20Penh.jpg
http://111.92.240.170:81/dap-news/dap-images/2012/December/id-010/chanroth-Dece-179.jpg
http://111.92.240.170:81/dap-news/dap-images/2012/December/id-010/chanroth-Dece-180.jpg
http://111.92.240.170:81/dap-news/dap-images/2012/December/id-010/chanroth-Dece-181.jpg
http://111.92.240.170:81/dap-news/dap-images/2012/December/id-010/chanroth-Dece-182.jpg

PHNOM PENH, 28 December 2012 (The Cambodia Herald) - The government was to resume rail services between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville Friday in collaboration with Toll Royal Co, Richz Electronic Services and the Asian Development Bank, sources said

On September 19, Toll and Richz signed an agreement to to buy rolling stock for the 266-kilometer railway.

The ADB financed $84 million of the railway's restoration with the Australian government contributing $21.5 million, OPEC $13 million, the Cambodian government $20.3 million and Malaysia $2.8 million.
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=M2EzNWQ4OWY4Mjk1MDY1ODQxNDE5YjQ0YThkMTNm
http://khmerization.blogspot.com/2012/12/train-service-relaunched-between-phnom.html

sYk6WfrPXac
by TeukTnotChou Dec 28, 2012

^^^
Mixed Train with DMU

GtNM0wzOXdY
Reviving Cambodian railways

zBv8qgko810
When rails come - people who stay along the route have to go

China to invest $9.6b in Cambodia (http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010160560/Business/china-to-invest-9-6b-in-cambodia.html)
Business Page
BY May Kunmakara at kunmakara.may@phnompenhpost.com
Phnompenh Post 01 JANUARY 2013

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/images/stories/news/national/2013/130101/130101_07.jpg
Liu Ziming (L), chairman of China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co Ltd, and Zhang Chuan You, general manager of Cambodia Iron & Steel Mining Industry Group, shake hands following a signing ceremony in Phnom Penh, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012. Photograph: Heng Chivoan/Phnom Penh Post

The Cambodia Iron & Steel Mining Industry Group (CISMIG) and the China Railway Group Limited agreed yesterday to build a new railway line with 11 stations as well as an iron and steel factory in Preah Vihear province.

The Memorandum of Understanding between the Groups is worth US$9.6 billion.

“We will start our project in July next year and it will take about four years,” Zhang Chuan Li, Chairman of CISMIG, told the Post yesterday. He added that Chinese and Cambodian experts analyzed the project’s feasibility and its environmental impact in October 2010.

According to the company statements the railway will be 405 kilometres long, from the mining area of Preah Vihear province through the southern provinces of Kampong Thom, Kampong Chnang, Kampong Speu and finally Koh Kong province. It will not connect to the existing lines of Toll Royal Railways.

Zhang Chuan Li told reporters at the signing ceremony that the $9.6 billion investment will be used to build the new railway line, a new port and a new bridge in Koh Kong. The planned iron and steel plant in Preah Vihear will cost $1.6 billion.

However, he said that the company received 1,300 square kilometres of land concessions from the government and 10 square kilometres would be necessary for the factory in Preah Vihear. The companies did not disclose the exact route of the new line.

Yim Sovann, spokesman for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, claimed that the government should follow the international bidding process for the approval of any foreign investment in all industry sectors.

“I don’t want to see companies grab people’s property and destroy natural ressources,” he said. “It will allow corruption, if government and company agree on such projects without a public bidding process.”

Referring to the factory, Zhang Chuan Li explained: “With the factory we want to minimise the country’s import of steel. We also plan to export to neighbouring countries like Vietnam and Thailand.”

The construction of the factory, which will produce 1 million tonnes of steel and iron per year, will take two and a half years, according to the CISMIG chairman.

The company will not import raw material for the production, but use national mines in Preah Vihear, Rattanakkiri, Kampong Thom and Stung Treng provinces.

Minister of Transportation Tram Iv Tek, who participated in the signing ceremony yesterday morning in Phnom Penh, said the investment will contribute to the development of the Cambodian economy.

“If the investment is successful, it will definitely help the development of Cambodia’s economy. It will not only allow the transportation of resources, but also of agricultural and industrial products as well as passengers,” he said.

Youn Heng, director of the Evaluation and Incentive Department of the Council for Development of Cambodia, confirmed that the CISMIG’s plans were approved by the government in 2010.

Chinese investments in Cambodia, mostly in the garment, textile, agriculture and mining industry. They totalled $9.1 billion between 1994 until the end of July 2012.

On Friday the stretch of railway line from Phnom Penh to Preah Sihanouk province started temporary operations.

The first operations on the southern railway will boost trade activities in the region and attract trade transportation activities, officials said.

Chinese Firms Sign Deal to Build 400-km Railway Line (http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/chinese-firms-sign-deal-to-build-400-km-railway-line-headline-7093/)
The Cambodia Daily By Sun Mesa and Simon Lewis - January 1, 2013

Two Chinese firms yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding, overseen by the Minister of Transport, to start work later this year on a massive project to build an entirely new 400-km railway line, a steel mill and a seaport.

The project, valued at an astonishing $9.6 billion, will be carried out by Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group, a consortium of Chinese metal firms, which has contracted China Railway Group to conduct construction work on the railway.

The venture would link a steel mill in Preah Vihear province’s Rovieng district, which is believed to have deposits of iron ore, with a brand-new port on an island off the coast of Koh Kong province, Zhang Chuan Li, chairman of Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group, told reporters at a ceremony in Phnom Penh.

“Work will begin in July 2013 on all three parts of the project. It will employ more than 20,000 local workers and 3,000 Chinese experts,” Mr. Zhang said, adding that the project would take an estimated four years to complete.

He explained that 404 km of railway would be constructed from Rovieng, where a 14-square-km steel plant would be built, to Koh Smach off Koh Kong’s Kiri Sakor district. The track will run through Preah Vihear, Kompong Thom, Kompong Chhnang, Kompong Speu and Koh Kong provinces.

The project also includes plans to build 11 railway stations along the line and a 3,192-meter railway bridge onto the tiny island, where a port for exports would be constructed.

Despite the project’s vast scale and ambitious nature, no officials from the Ministry of Commerce or Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy were present at yesterday’s ceremony. Officials also provided no details on what displacement could result from the project.

China Railway Group—China’s “largest integrated railway construction contractor,” according to its website—in 2011 conducted a feasibility study on the route, which has not been made public.

Mr. Zhang said Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group already has a 1,300-square-km iron-ore exploration license in Rovieng.

The steel mill would take two-and-a-half years to build, and would produce 1 million tons of steel a year in its first three years of operation, he said.

“The steel company will be able to supply the Cambodian market entirely—it already imports 900,000 tons of steel every year from outside—and the company will also export,” he said, offering no exploration results to back up his claims.

Transportation Minister Tram Iv Tek, who clinked champagne glasses with Chinese executives of Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group and China Railway Group during the ceremony, said the railway would not only help to transport steel, but could carry agricultural products, other industrial goods and passengers.

“If this huge project is successful, it will help the Cambodian economy to develop and grow and help a lot of people to get work,” he said.

Rovieng district has attracted numerous companies looking to find iron ore and other minerals, but none have managed to develop a large-scale mine.

Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group donated $200,000 toward the construction of a new CPP office for the district, which was completed in January, and is paying for the construction of a park in Preah Vihear City. Officials have said the largess of the project would not influence decision-making.

Kong Makara, director of the provincial industry, mines and energy department, confirmed that Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group had held an exploration license since October 2009.

“But it does not have the license to dig a mine yet,” he said.

Another Chinese company, Guangxi Nonferrous Metal Group, began work on its own $500 million steel plant in Rovieng in 2012, but progress has frozen, Mr. Makara said.

The purported scale of the investment—worth about three-quarters of Cambodia’s entire gross domestic product last year—will raise questions, especially considering that no large-scale mining is currently taking place in Cambodia.

Richard Stanger, president of the Cambodian Association for Mining Exploration Companies and CEO of Liberty Mining International, said he had heard the company was conducting exploratory drilling and magnetic imaging for iron ore in the area, but that he did not know details of how much iron ore was there.

“There are a lot of iron ore exploration licenses in that area. But I don’t know how extensive the resources are,” he said.

Peter Brimble, senior country economist at the Asian Development Bank, said the price tag on the Chinese-led project seemed “very high.”

“How can it cost that much?” he said, noting that a rail link between Vientiane and the Lao-Chinese border that was approved by Laos in October, and includes numerous tunnels through mountains, is only valued at $7 billion.

The project would at some point have to cross the northern line of the existing Cambodian rail network, which is currently being rehabilitated, but no talks appear to be under way to link the two lines.

David Kerr, chief executive of Toll Royal Railways, the company holding the concession to operate the rehabilitated railway network, said he had not heard about the Chinese-led project.

“I wasn’t invited,” he said. “I don’t know anything about it.”

Mr. Kerr added that, due to a confidentiality clause, he could not say whether or not Toll Royal had to be consulted first before another company was given the right to operate trains in Cambodia.

Chinese Firms Sign Deal to Build 400-km Railway Line (http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/chinese-firms-sign-deal-to-build-400-km-railway-line-headline-7093/)
The Cambodia Daily By Sun Mesa and Simon Lewis - January 1, 2013

Two Chinese firms yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding, overseen by the Minister of Transport, to start work later this year on a massive project to build an entirely new 400-km railway line, a steel mill and a seaport.

The project, valued at an astonishing $9.6 billion, will be carried out by Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group, a consortium of Chinese metal firms, which has contracted China Railway Group to conduct construction work on the railway.

The venture would link a steel mill in Preah Vihear province’s Rovieng district, which is believed to have deposits of iron ore, with a brand-new port on an island off the coast of Koh Kong province, Zhang Chuan Li, chairman of Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group, told reporters at a ceremony in Phnom Penh.

“Work will begin in July 2013 on all three parts of the project. It will employ more than 20,000 local workers and 3,000 Chinese experts,” Mr. Zhang said, adding that the project would take an estimated four years to complete.

He explained that 404 km of railway would be constructed from Rovieng, where a 14-square-km steel plant would be built, to Koh Smach off Koh Kong’s Kiri Sakor district. The track will run through Preah Vihear, Kompong Thom, Kompong Chhnang, Kompong Speu and Koh Kong provinces.

The project also includes plans to build 11 railway stations along the line and a 3,192-meter railway bridge onto the tiny island, where a port for exports would be constructed.

Despite the project’s vast scale and ambitious nature, no officials from the Ministry of Commerce or Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy were present at yesterday’s ceremony. Officials also provided no details on what displacement could result from the project.

China Railway Group—China’s “largest integrated railway construction contractor,” according to its website—in 2011 conducted a feasibility study on the route, which has not been made public.

Mr. Zhang said Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group already has a 1,300-square-km iron-ore exploration license in Rovieng.

The steel mill would take two-and-a-half years to build, and would produce 1 million tons of steel a year in its first three years of operation, he said.

“The steel company will be able to supply the Cambodian market entirely—it already imports 900,000 tons of steel every year from outside—and the company will also export,” he said, offering no exploration results to back up his claims.

Transportation Minister Tram Iv Tek, who clinked champagne glasses with Chinese executives of Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group and China Railway Group during the ceremony, said the railway would not only help to transport steel, but could carry agricultural products, other industrial goods and passengers.

“If this huge project is successful, it will help the Cambodian economy to develop and grow and help a lot of people to get work,” he said.

Rovieng district has attracted numerous companies looking to find iron ore and other minerals, but none have managed to develop a large-scale mine.

Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group donated $200,000 toward the construction of a new CPP office for the district, which was completed in January, and is paying for the construction of a park in Preah Vihear City. Officials have said the largess of the project would not influence decision-making.

Kong Makara, director of the provincial industry, mines and energy department, confirmed that Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group had held an exploration license since October 2009.

“But it does not have the license to dig a mine yet,” he said.

Another Chinese company, Guangxi Nonferrous Metal Group, began work on its own $500 million steel plant in Rovieng in 2012, but progress has frozen, Mr. Makara said.

The purported scale of the investment—worth about three-quarters of Cambodia’s entire gross domestic product last year—will raise questions, especially considering that no large-scale mining is currently taking place in Cambodia.

Richard Stanger, president of the Cambodian Association for Mining Exploration Companies and CEO of Liberty Mining International, said he had heard the company was conducting exploratory drilling and magnetic imaging for iron ore in the area, but that he did not know details of how much iron ore was there.

“There are a lot of iron ore exploration licenses in that area. But I don’t know how extensive the resources are,” he said.

Peter Brimble, senior country economist at the Asian Development Bank, said the price tag on the Chinese-led project seemed “very high.”

“How can it cost that much?” he said, noting that a rail link between Vientiane and the Lao-Chinese border that was approved by Laos in October, and includes numerous tunnels through mountains, is only valued at $7 billion.

The project would at some point have to cross the northern line of the existing Cambodian rail network, which is currently being rehabilitated, but no talks appear to be under way to link the two lines.

David Kerr, chief executive of Toll Royal Railways, the company holding the concession to operate the rehabilitated railway network, said he had not heard about the Chinese-led project.

“I wasn’t invited,” he said. “I don’t know anything about it.”

Mr. Kerr added that, due to a confidentiality clause, he could not say whether or not Toll Royal had to be consulted first before another company was given the right to operate trains in Cambodia.

The railway will run straight through the new 7 Dragon City that the Chinese are building right now. This will bring more Chinese to gamble. They can just take the train now from Yunnan China or Guangzhou. A win-win for Cambodia and China.

^^^
What are those 7 dragon cities which 7 stations out of 11 stations for this Koh Kong - Phra Viharn line will be situated?

'7 Dragon City' is the name of new Chinese city in Koh Kong Province.
This name doesn't mean that there are 7 places, I think.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1320311

----

CONFUSION OVER CHINESE RAILWAY PROPOSAL
2nd January 2013
http://penhpal.com/2013/01/confusion-over-chinese-railway-proposal/

Over the weekend, two Chinese firms signed an MOU to start work on an entirely new 404-km railway line, a steel mill and a seaport later this year valued at $US9.6 billion, the Cambodia Daily reported yesterday.

The deal was inked between Zhang Chuan You, general manager of Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group, and Liu Ziming, chairman of China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group, and witnessed of Cambodian Minister of Public Works and Transport Tram Iv Tek and Bai Zhongren, president of China Railway Group Limited.

The consortium of Chinese metal firms has contracted China Railway to conduct construction work on the railway, which will link a 14-square-km steel mill in Preah Vihear province’s Rovieng district to a brand-new port on tiny Koh Smach island off the coast of Koh Kong province, which will be connected to the mainland by a a 3,192-meter railway bridge, according to Zhang Chuan Li, chairman of Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining. The track will run through Preah Vihear, Kompong Thom, Kompong Chhnang, Kompong Speu and Koh Kong provinces. The railway is expected to take four years to build.

Transportation Minister Tram Iv Tek, claimed the railway would not only help to transport steel but could carry agricultural products, other industrial goods and passengers. The rail project includes plans to build eleven railway stations along the line.

The steel mill would take two-and-a-half years to build, and would produce one million tons of steel per year in its first three years of operation, he said.

“The steel company will be able to supply the Cambodian market entirely—it already imports 900,000 tons of steel every year from outside—and the company will also export,” Zang said. Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining already has a 1,300-square-km iron-ore exploration license in Rovieng district, which has attracted numerous companies looking to find iron ore and other minerals, although none have so far managed to develop a large-scale mine.

The Daily reports the director of the provincial industry, mines and energy department, Kong Makara, saying that Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining “does not have the license to dig a mine yet.”

Last year, another Chinese company, Guangxi Nonferrous Metal Group, began work on its own $500 million steel plant in Rovieng, but progress has since been frozen.

All this has left many observers scratching their heads. The Daily reports Richard Stanger, president of the Cambodian Association for Mining Exploration Companies and CEO of Liberty Mining International, saying he had heard the company was conducting exploratory drilling and magnetic imaging for iron ore in the area, but that he did not know details of how much iron ore was there.

The senior country economist at the Asian Development Bank, Peter Brimble, questioned the project’s price tag, noting that a rail link between Vientiane and the Lao-Chinese border that was approved by Laos in October, that includes numerous tunnels through mountains, is only priced at $US7 billion. The scale of the proposed investment is worth about three-quarters of Cambodia’s entire gross domestic product last year.

Some sceptics are suggesting there may be a hidden agenda behind this ambitious project, given the apparent lack of proven reserves of iron ore, plus the absence of a business case for the railway and the steel mill if there the ore fails to materialise. They suggest the port may be the real objective, with docking facilities for Chinese navy vessels patrolling Chinese claims to the South China Sea.

Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining donated $200,000 toward the construction of a new CPP office for the district, which was completed in January, and is paying for the construction of a park in Preah Vihear City.

Not that this had anything to do with anything, of course.

Locals in the Dark to Chinese Rail Project (http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/locals-in-the-dark-to-chinese-rail-project-7128/)
The Cambodia Daily By Simon Lewis and Sun Mesa - January 2, 2013

With two Chinese firms due to start work on a 400-km railway, steel mill and port in July, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) has yet to be conducted, and affected provinces are still largely in the dark about the massive infrastructure project.

In a ceremony in Phnom Penh on Monday, Chinese conglomerate Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group and China Railway Group Limited signed a deal on the purported $9.6 billion project in the presence of Transport Minister Tram Iv Tek.

The ambitious plan would see a railway built by 2017 from a plant in Preah Vihear province, through Kompong Thom, Kompong Chhnang, Kompong Speu and Koh Kong provinces, to a seaport on Koh Smach Island, off the coast of Koh Kong.

Environment Minister Mok Mareth said in a message yesterday that an EIA on the project was “not yet submitted.”

“Naturally, the company shall fulfill this obligation to get the support from Chinese [government] and [the financers of the project],” he said.

China Railway conducted a feasibility study on the rail project in 2011, but results have not been made public and officials have not given any specifics on the precise path the railway line will take, or how many people will be displaced.

Peou Maly, deputy director of the transportation department within the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, said that he believed the project “will have some impact on some people’s homes because it is more than 400 km long.

“When it impacts on a citizen’s house, they [the companies] will pay compensation” in accordance with the Land Law, he said.

Mam Sambath, chairman of Cambodians for Resource Revenue Transparency, a coalition of NGOs, said he was concerned about the tight timescale on a project that would clearly impact many people and affect the environment.

“It is just seven months to go. In order to manage this project and conduct an assessment well takes a long time. And consultation with the community is very important,” he said.

“It’s a bit short notice.”

Koh Kong provincial governor Bun Leut said he had heard about the development, which includes plans for a 3-km bridge in Kiri Sakor district, but that no discussions had been held on what impact it would have on the people or their environment.

“I heard that there will be a Chinese company developing on the island, but I didn’t get an official document yet,” he said.

Kompong Speu governor Kang Heang and Kompong Thom deputy governor Uch Samon also both said they had heard of the plan but had not been officially notified.

First Cargo Train Links Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville (http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/first-cargo-train-links-phnom-penh-sville-7071/)
The Cambodia Daily By Kaing Menghun and Simon Lewis - December 31, 2012

http://www.cambodiadaily.com/cdfiles/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/cam-photo-train-e1356929452281.jpg
The first cargo train between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville’s port ran on Friday, marking the beginning of a route that it is hoped will decrease reliance on the road network to transport goods to the coast.

A Toll Royal Railways train making the first trip on the newly refurbished Southern Line to Sihanoukville passes through Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kok district on Friday. (Siv Channa)
A test train, loaded with empty cargo containers, left the station in Phnom Penh for the first time down the 256-kilometer Southern Line—the first part of the rail network to be fully restored.

“Today we just tested the cargo,” said David Kerr, chief executive of Toll Royal Railways, the line’s operator, on Friday.

Toll Royal will begin running trains three times a week to the port carrying goods including rice, garments and rubber for export, he said.

He said that once permission from the customs department has been obtained, hopefully this week, trains could carry up to 128 containers, which are about 6 meters long.

The project has received $141.6 million of funding, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the largest contributor, which has provided an $84 million loan for the plan.

Other funding has been provided by the Australian government, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Malaysia and the Cambodian government.

In a statement Friday, the ADB said that by reducing reliance on trucks to transport goods, the new service would help to lower the cost of commodities, minimize heavy road traffic and boost the economy.

“In sum, the modern Cambodian railway will strengthen the business environment, create jobs and incomes, improve road safety, and stimulate local and foreign investment,” the statement said.

In March, Australian firm Toll Group, which has partnered with local conglomerate Royal Group to operate the railway once it is restored, suspended a service that was then bringing cement from Kampot province to Phnom Penh, which was not proving profitable.

The move raised questions about the project’s future, which will only partly be answered by Friday’s launch of the new line.

Transportation Minister Tram Iv Tek said on Friday that there was still a shortage of funds to complete the difficult restoration of the 337-km Northern Line, which would provide a vital link between Phnom Penh and Poipet City on the Thai border.

“Some ADB funding is left, but it won’t be enough for the whole project if we want a high quality railway,” Mr. Iv Tek said.

The ADB said in its statement that the line was “expected to be opened in several phases between 2014 and 2015.”

7 Dragon city is a new city that the Chinese will build in Kiri Sakor and Botum Sakor district. It's like a gambling city comparable to Las Vegas and occupies a land the size of Singapore. The port that is being build is used to transport materials from China and has nothing to do with politics.

7 Dragon city is a new city that the Chinese will build in Kiri Sakor and Botum Sakor district. It's like a gambling city comparable to Las Vegas and occupies a land the size of Singapore. The port that is being build is used to transport materials from China and has nothing to do with politics.

Dont expect that project to happen.

Dont expect that project to happen.

^^ why not?? They already started building hotels, roads, etc!

^^ why not?? They already started building hotels, roads, etc!

sorry i was mistaken with this other project. :D

7 Dragon city is a new city that the Chinese will build in Kiri Sakor and Botum Sakor district. It's like a gambling city comparable to Las Vegas and occupies a land the size of Singapore. The port that is being build is used to transport materials from China and has nothing to do with politics.

More like R & R for chinese naval forces in addtion to the new naval base though.

China to invest $9.6b in Cambodia (http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013010160560/Business/china-to-invest-9-6b-in-cambodia.html)
Business Page
BY May Kunmakara at kunmakara.may@phnompenhpost.com
Phnompenh Post 01 JANUARY 2013

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/images/stories/news/national/2013/130101/130101_07.jpg
Liu Ziming (L), chairman of China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co Ltd, and Zhang Chuan You, general manager of Cambodia Iron & Steel Mining Industry Group, shake hands following a signing ceremony in Phnom Penh, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012. Photograph: Heng Chivoan/Phnom Penh Post

The Cambodia Iron & Steel Mining Industry Group (CISMIG) and the China Railway Group Limited agreed yesterday to build a new railway line with 11 stations as well as an iron and steel factory in Preah Vihear province.

The Memorandum of Understanding between the Groups is worth US$9.6 billion.

“We will start our project in July next year and it will take about four years,” Zhang Chuan Li, Chairman of CISMIG, told the Post yesterday. He added that Chinese and Cambodian experts analyzed the project’s feasibility and its environmental impact in October 2010.

According to the company statements the railway will be 405 kilometres long, from the mining area of Preah Vihear province through the southern provinces of Kampong Thom, Kampong Chnang, Kampong Speu and finally Koh Kong province. It will not connect to the existing lines of Toll Royal Railways.

Zhang Chuan Li told reporters at the signing ceremony that the $9.6 billion investment will be used to build the new railway line, a new port and a new bridge in Koh Kong. The planned iron and steel plant in Preah Vihear will cost $1.6 billion.

However, he said that the company received 1,300 square kilometres of land concessions from the government and 10 square kilometres would be necessary for the factory in Preah Vihear. The companies did not disclose the exact route of the new line.

Yim Sovann, spokesman for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, claimed that the government should follow the international bidding process for the approval of any foreign investment in all industry sectors.

“I don’t want to see companies grab people’s property and destroy natural ressources,” he said. “It will allow corruption, if government and company agree on such projects without a public bidding process.”

Referring to the factory, Zhang Chuan Li explained: “With the factory we want to minimise the country’s import of steel. We also plan to export to neighbouring countries like Vietnam and Thailand.”

The construction of the factory, which will produce 1 million tonnes of steel and iron per year, will take two and a half years, according to the CISMIG chairman.

The company will not import raw material for the production, but use national mines in Preah Vihear, Rattanakkiri, Kampong Thom and Stung Treng provinces.

Minister of Transportation Tram Iv Tek, who participated in the signing ceremony yesterday morning in Phnom Penh, said the investment will contribute to the development of the Cambodian economy.

“If the investment is successful, it will definitely help the development of Cambodia’s economy. It will not only allow the transportation of resources, but also of agricultural and industrial products as well as passengers,” he said.

Youn Heng, director of the Evaluation and Incentive Department of the Council for Development of Cambodia, confirmed that the CISMIG’s plans were approved by the government in 2010.

Chinese investments in Cambodia, mostly in the garment, textile, agriculture and mining industry. They totalled $9.1 billion between 1994 until the end of July 2012.

On Friday the stretch of railway line from Phnom Penh to Preah Sihanouk province started temporary operations.

The first operations on the southern railway will boost trade activities in the region and attract trade transportation activities, officials said.

I suggest that you get the correct spelling of our province. It is Preah Vihear.

http://cambodiatrainspotter.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/enlish-8.jpg

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll8/Mongwin/enlish-8_zpsd1708f63.jpg

Two Companies Reach a New Railway Construction in Cambodia (http://www.akp.gov.kh/?p=28944)
AKP Phnom Penh, January 02, 2013 —

The Cambodia Iron & Steel Mining Industry Group and China Railway Group Limited signed here on Monday an agreement on a railway construction project under the presidency of H.E. Tram Iv Tek, Minister of Public Works and Transports.

The 404.4-kilometer new railway from Preah Vihear, a northern province, to a new seaport called Samith Port in Koh Kong, a costal province, will pass through Kampong Thom, Kampong Chhnang and Kampong Speu provinces.

According to Mr. Zhang Chuan Li, Director General of Cambodia Iron & Steel Mining Industry Group, besides railway construction, the investment project includes also a seaport construction in Koh Kong and a steel factory construction in Preah Vihear with a total investment capital of US$9,600 million.

Addressing at the signing ceremony, H.E. Tram Iv Tek welcomed the investment project, saying that it will contribute to Cambodia’s socio-economic development.

Cambodia currently has two railway lines – the 256 kilometer long Southern Line from Phnom Penh to Preah Sihanouk coastal province, which was just put into use last week after being rehabilitated, and the 337 kilometer long Northern Line from Phnom Penh to Poïpet, at Cambodian-Thai border, which is expected to be launched between 2014-2015.

By Khan Sophirom

Minister of Transport Says He Knows Little About Railway Project (http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/minister-of-transport-says-he-knows-little-about-railway-project-7198/)
The Cambodia Daily by Phorn Bopha and Simon Lewis - January 3, 2013

The minister of transport, who on Monday watched over the signing of a deal between two Chinese companies to build a 400-km railway, yesterday said the government has minimal knowledge of the project.

http://www.cambodiadaily.com/cdfiles/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/cam-photo-railway-folo-e1357212350363.jpg
An illustration shows the Chinese company Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group’s plans for a 14-square-kilometer steel mill in Preah Vihear province’s Rovieng district. (Simon Lewis/The Cambodia Daily)

Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group and China Railway Group signed a memorandum of understanding to build an iron mill in Preah Vihear province, a new seaport in Koh Kong province and a railway connecting the two, for a total cost of $9.6 billion.

Government officials from affected provinces and other ministries have referred questions about the project to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.

Transport Minister Tram Iv Tek said, however, that he did not know a great deal about the project.

“I don’t know what the companies will do. Let’s wait and see all together,” Mr. Iv Tek said. “If they can really do it, it will help Cambodia’s economy a lot.”

“Just 10 percent of the project is already big, it’s $1 billion,” he added.

It is unclear exactly where the railway will be built, how land will be procured and how many people will be displaced by the project.

Environment Minister Mok Mareth said on Tuesday that an environmental impact assessment has not yet been submitted for the project, on which work is due to begin in July.

At the Tuol Kok district office of the Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group yesterday, a secretary said company officials had gone back to China until after Chinese New Year, in February.

A Chinese man in military fatigues, bearing no insignia, milled around at the office building, which also houses a block of apartments bearing the sign “Cambodia Iron Group Apartment.”

A rudimentary plan for the steel mill, superimposed upon a picture of a forested area, sat on the wall of the company’s office.

According to the Preah Vihear provincial industry, mines and energy office, the company currently holds a license to explore for iron ore, but not to dig a mine.

In May 2007, the Associated Press reported from Shanghai that four giant state-owned Chinese steel firms—Wuhan Iron and Steel, Baosteel Group, Anshan Iron and Steel Group and Shougang Iron and Steel—had joined to explore for iron ore in Preah Vihear to address China’s lack of control over its steel supply.

Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group chairman Zhang Chuan Li said on Monday that the company was backed by four major steel firms in China.

I suggest that you get the correct spelling of our province. It is Preah Vihear.

:bash: Huh? Am I missing something here? Are you dyslexia? The author of the article correctly spelled "Preah Vihear".

The total cost of this project is 11.2 billion dollars right? 1.6 for the steel mill and 9.6 for the railway and seaport.

:bash: Huh? Am I missing something here? Are you dyslexia? The author of the article correctly spelled "Preah Vihear".

Look at the title on thread #159 and see what I mean.

The total cost of this project is 11.2 billion dollars right? 1.6 for the steel mill and 9.6 for the railway and seaport.

^^
No, that is incorrect. The total cost is $9.6B, per signed MoU. $1.6B is part of the $9.6B package. When it is all said and done, the actual spending will be much less due to Cambodia's cheap labor cost. Cheap labor is a driving force of investment, and it is one of the key factors the investors are pouring in to Cambodia. Of course, another factor is country's political stability. However, a gigantic investment such as this one will be extremenly difficult to make it a reality. No one really knows the true scope of this project. Even the Cambodian government have already admitted that they knew very little about this proposed massive investment.

Look at the title on thread #159 and see what I mean.

:)

I see. I suggest Wisarut be mindful of Cambodian forummers. Preah Vihear is an inalienable part of Cambodia. Kvaa, you have a very good point.

^^
either mindful or mindlessly stamp on the political landmines ...

Cambodian transport minister: what billion-dollar railway deal? (http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/southeast-asia/cambodian-transport-minister-what-billion-dollar-railway-)
Questions surround Cambodia's largest-ever project
Patrick WinnJanuary 4, 2013 02:40

http://www.globalpost.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/gp3_slideshow_large/cambodia_railways_20120104.jpg
Cambodians sitting along railroad tracks outside their shanty homes in the Boeng Kak slum area of Phnom Penh in 2009. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

Cambodia's latest approved mega-project is a doozy: an $11.2 billion China-funded endeavor to build a steel mine in the country's north linked to a coastal port via 250 miles of railway tracks.

It's difficult to overemphasize this project's scale, which amounts in dollar figures to nearly 90 percent of the country's current annual GDP. As an Asian Development Bank official tells Reuters, it "must be the largest-ever project in Cambodia."

Cambodians and the world at large have reason to wonder about the project's impact: building a 250-mile railway is likely to trigger home evictions, which have a reputation for violence and abuse in Cambodia. The government also acknowledges that they haven't completed an assessment of the mine's potential environmental damage.

The entire project is surrounded with questions. You might assume that Iv Tek -- Cambodia's transport minister, who presided over the deal's preliminary approval -- would be the man with the answers.

But when the small-but-aggressive Cambodia Daily newspaper confronted the minister with questions, they found that "he did not know a great deal about the project."

“I don’t know what the companies will do," he told the newspaper. "Let’s wait and see all together."

Is he really that clueless? Is he playing dumb to ward off tough questions? Either way, these are not so comforting words from an official holding the reigns of a project that will drastically shape lives and Cambodia's already ailing environment.

For more quality reporting on the project's lack of transparency, check out this recent piece (http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/locals-in-the-dark-to-chinese-rail-project-7128/) in the Cambodia's Daily.

AsianDragon: Stop deleting my post!!! I need an answer why a Thai guy has to translate a Cambodian/English name into a Thai name when posting here. What is his motive? you need to to be fair. Don't be an idiot!!!

Cambodian transport minister: what billion-dollar railway deal? (http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/southeast-asia/cambodian-transport-minister-what-billion-dollar-railway-)
Questions surround Cambodia's largest-ever project
Patrick WinnJanuary 4, 2013 02:40

http://www.globalpost.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/gp3_slideshow_large/cambodia_railways_20120104.jpg
Cambodians sitting along railroad tracks outside their shanty homes in the Boeng Kak slum area of Phnom Penh in 2009. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

Cambodia's latest approved mega-project is a doozy: an $11.2 billion China-funded endeavor to build a steel mine in the country's north linked to a coastal port via 250 miles of railway tracks.

It's difficult to overemphasize this project's scale, which amounts in dollar figures to nearly 90 percent of the country's current annual GDP. As an Asian Development Bank official tells Reuters, it "must be the largest-ever project in Cambodia."

Cambodians and the world at large have reason to wonder about the project's impact: building a 250-mile railway is likely to trigger home evictions, which have a reputation for violence and abuse in Cambodia. The government also acknowledges that they haven't completed an assessment of the mine's potential environmental damage.

The entire project is surrounded with questions. You might assume that Iv Tek -- Cambodia's transport minister, who presided over the deal's preliminary approval -- would be the man with the answers.

But when the small-but-aggressive Cambodia Daily newspaper confronted the minister with questions, they found that "he did not know a great deal about the project."

“I don’t know what the companies will do," he told the newspaper. "Let’s wait and see all together."

Is he really that clueless? Is he playing dumb to ward off tough questions? Either way, these are not so comforting words from an official holding the reigns of a project that will drastically shape lives and Cambodia's already ailing environment.

For more quality reporting on the project's lack of transparency, check out this recent piece (http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/locals-in-the-dark-to-chinese-rail-project-7128/) in the Cambodia's Daily.
Only one man can answer this and what ever he answer no more addition question. :nuts:

Only one man can answer this and what ever he answer no more addition question. :nuts:

It's hard believe they don't know nothing about the project. Not even Hun Sen know nothing about the project?? You have to be kidding me! This is the biggest project in Cambodia.

Toll Royal Railway commences train services Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh (http://www.tollroyalrailway.com/?page=detail&article=63&lg=en)
Toll Royal Railways(Cambodia) 7 Jan 2013

CEO of Toll Royal Railway David Kerr said that he is pleased to announce the commencement of train services on the southern line between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville on Friday 28 December 2012.

In a significant step forward for the economy and people of Cambodia, Toll Royal Railway is planning to operate 3 return container services per week from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville. The services will commence modestly with 20 container wagons and will progressively increase to 60 container wagons per service. The length of the train will increase to 1,000 meters and each train can carry payloads of up to 3,000 ton.

Toll Royal Railway's CEO David Kerr welcomed the commencement of operations on the southern line adding, "With this regular service in place we can better target customers including shipping lines and garment manufacturers with both Merchant Haulage and Carrier Haulage".

"Since the commencement of this project, ensuring safety along the railway line during operations has been our highest priority”, he added “I can guarantee that will continue to be the case as full southern line rail operations commence, Our well trained local staff will have an increased focus on rail safety as this operation gets underway”.

"We ask everyone along the rail line to be especially conscious of their own safety too," Mr Kerr concluded.

http://www.tollroyalrailway.com/imgs/2.jpg

http://www.tollroyalrailway.com/imgs/1.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f139/Wisarut/Thai%20Railways/CambodianRailwayProject2.jpg
Here is 404.4 km railway line proposed by Chinese consultant to go from Preah Vihear,to Samith Port in Koh Kong via Kampong Thom, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Speu, Bat Deueng in form of the blue dashed line ... Hope that there will be junctions for interchanging the train

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f139/Wisarut/Thai%20Railways/CambodianRailwayProject2.jpg
Here is 404.4 km railway line proposed by Chinese consultant to go from Preah Vihear,to Samith Port in Koh Kong via Kampong Thom, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Speu, Bat Deueng in form of the blue dashed line ... Hope that there will be junctions for interchanging the train

^^ I told u wisarut that I think they should build a railway to Koh kong and now my dreams have come true!

^^ I told u wisarut that I think they should build a railway to Koh kong and now my dreams have come true!

What do you mean? I don't see any line linking to the city of Koh Kong

^^ it is a proposal but i dont see why

What do you mean? I don't see any line linking to the city of Koh Kong

I didn't say koh kong city! I said a railway to the new dragon city will be beneficial. This way the Chinese can take the train/plane to the area to gamble.

^^^
Hope that you can manage to find the latest map showing the proposed 404.4 km route from Preah Vihear to the new dragon city at Koh Kong

BTW, I just wonder whether cambodians still use this term for railway => រាជាយស្ម័យយា

^^^
Hope that you can manage to find the latest map showing the proposed 404.4 km route from Preah Vihear to the new dragon city at Koh Kong

BTW, I just wonder whether cambodians still use this term for railway => រាជាយស្ម័យយា

I hope this come true! Koh kong have some really beautiful untouched beaches.

^^^ This will be a good reason to extend the railway line along Eastern seaboard via pataya from the current end at Map Ta Phut Industrial estate all the way to Trat and Ban Hat Lek [Thai checkpoint to Kohkong]

^^^ This will be a good reason to extend the railway line along Eastern seaboard via pataya from the current end at Map Ta Phut Industrial estate all the way to Trat and Ban Hat Lek [Thai checkpoint to Kohkong]

^^ Since Thai people can cross over to koh kong and gamble in the new city it is beneficial to the Chinese. People from mainland China can't cross on foot to gamble in the new city so I think that is why China want to build railway link to Kiri Sakor district.

Will this 404 km railway project be 1.435 m gauge railway, and can not connect with Poipet-Phnom Penh 1 m railroad ?

Now, I got the key word -> Rot Ploeng => រថភ្លើង​

Here is how Khmer has mentioned about Thai railway - diesel railcars though ...
http://vsthea.wordpress.com/2011/05/01/%E1%9E%9A%E1%9E%90%E1%9E%97%E1%9F%92%E1%9E%9B%E1%9E%BE%E1%9E%84/

Ajarn Ek (Mongwin) has found Cambodia Road Network Map issue by Ministry of Post, civil works and tranportation with the size of 16.3 MB to be downloaded from here: http://www.mpwt.gov.kh/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Cambodia-Road-Map.zip

BTW, I have noticed that much of the newly proposed railway line such as the route from Sisophon to Siem Riap and Siem riap to Kampong Thom are just following Highway No. 6 along with all other existing highways ...

Will this 404 km railway project be 1.435 m gauge railway, and can not connect with Poipet-Phnom Penh 1 m railroad ?

^^ This railway looks like a separate line by itself not connecting to poipet through Thailand. It looks like it will connect to Laos instead for Chinese people in Yunnan to gamble in Koh kong. The gambling city in Koh kong will be bigger than the golden triangle gambling city. The plus side is Koh Kong have beaches, natural rainforest, and many other things that makes it more of an attractive destination than the one in Laos.

So far the project is looking good. The scenery is beautiful. These pix are quite old. The Chinese probably finished the first phase of the project already.

http://sunnyunion.com/UploadFile/2011818192847419.jpg

http://sunnyunion.com/UploadFile/201181819296702.jpg

http://sunnyunion.com/UploadFile/2011818192820191.jpg

Here is some construction.

http://www.morningwhistle.com/uploadfile/2013/0104/20130104105156953.jpg

^^
Where it is?

Here is some construction.

http://www.morningwhistle.com/uploadfile/2013/0104/20130104105156953.jpg

this doesnt look like cambodia, at all, is it the thai border?

^^

http://www.morningwhistle.com/html/2013/Company_Industry_0104/216422.html

this doesnt look like cambodia, at all, is it the thai border?

No, this one definitely in China due to the concrete sleepers and electrification.

No, this one definitely in China due to the concrete sleepers and electrification.

It looks like in China

But is this part of the project?

http://www.gokunming.com/images/blog/2878.jpg

There are plans for a Kunming-Cambodia high-speed rail line which would pass through Vietnam. The line would be an important step in plans to eventually build high-speed rail extending from Kunming to Singapore. Specifics of the line are currently being negotiated.

http://www.gokunming.com/images/blog/2878.jpg

There are plans for a Kunming-Cambodia high-speed rail line which would pass through Vietnam. The line would be an important step in plans to eventually build high-speed rail extending from Kunming to Singapore. Specifics of the line are currently being negotiated.

^^ The new railway that the Chinese are building worth 11 billion dollars is going to connect Kunming to Cambodia via Laos.

^^ The new railway that the Chinese are building worth 11 billion dollars is going to connect Kunming to Cambodia via Laos.

Really? Never read anything about it connecting from Laos. Only via Vietnam and Thailand

Really? Never read anything about it connecting from Laos. Only via Vietnam and Thailand

^^ It's going to be connected to preah vihear province and it's right next to laos. The chinese are also studying a new railway plan connecting to Stung treng province down to to sihanoukeville.

^^ It's going to be connected to preah vihear province and it's right next to laos. The chinese are also studying a new railway plan connecting to Stung treng province down to to sihanoukeville.

Can you show me the article? I wanna read more about it. :banana:

There may be benefit to get connect Singapore, and things in between, ie: Thailands, and Malaysia, since it need to pass Laos and/or Burma, they need to include them.

I don't honestly believe it will reach Phnom Penh anytime soon, Cambodia will probably be last to get connected, but if it get connected, the most rational routes will be something like BKK <>SiemReap<>Phnom Penh<> HCM

^^

http://media.economist.com/images/images-magazine/2011/01/22/as/20110122_asm904.gif

^^ Just rail? or High Speed Rail already?

Just Rail, I'll try to find one for the High Speed Train.

jGsypKuAfbc
by Sihanoukville Cambodia Jan 25, 2013

^^ the equipment looks the same as the one's they use in australia building the freight line past cabramatta

New rails near Poipet train station. 26 Jan 2013.
https://maps.google.co.th/?ll=13.65734,102.555871&spn=0.002883,0.005252&t=h&z=18

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll8/Mongwin/poipet26jan2013_2_zpsb28eeb50.jpg

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll8/Mongwin/poipet26jan2013_1_zps326a090b.jpg

Rail Operator Still Awaiting Approval for Cargo
The Cambodia Daily 28 Jan 2013
http://cambodiatrainspotter.wordpress.com/2013/01/28/rail-operator-still-awaiting-approval-for-cargo/english1/

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll8/Mongwin/english1_zps5c2ec065.jpg

The government yesterday asked the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to continue to help Cambodia’s troubled railway rehabilitation project, which is in desperate need of more funding in order to complete the network’s northern line.

Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong met with the ADB’s recently appointed country director, Eric Sidgwick, in Phnom Penh. Following the meeting, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong told reporters that Mr. Namhong had brought up the rail project, to which the ADB has already contributed $84 million, making it the project’s largest financer.

^^
http://cambodiatrainspotter.wordpress.com/2013/01/29/government-asks-for-asian-development-banks-help-on-railway/railway/

---

Railway Development Issue (English Subtitle)

GI1TF0J7KyY
by equitycam Published on Jan 29, 2013

- Blue line:
Toll Royal Railway Phases of the Track Development in Cambodia
Phase 1: Phnom Penh – Kampot [118 km]
Phase 2: Kampot – Sihanoukville [146 km]
Phase 3: Phnom Penh – Sisophon [338 km]
Phase 4: Sisophon – Poipet [48 km]
More info: http://www.tollroyalrailway.com

- Red line:
Cambodia Railway Future Options No 01
Proposed new Line by Toll Royal Group:
1. Sisophon – Siem Reap (105 km) – support tourism
2. Bat Doeng – Skun – Kampong Cham – Snoul – Loch Ninh (255 km) – connect to vietnam via Di An – Loch Ninh line
3. Siem Reap – Skul (239 km) – Create the loop line around Tonle Sap
4. Snoul – Stueng Treng – Lao Border (273 km) – connection to Laos

http://www.opendevelopmentcambodia.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/1.png

why does kampong cham to kratie have to go via snoul, why cant they cut the route shorter

why does kampong cham to kratie have to go via snoul, why cant they cut the route shorter

I think it is faster connecting Kratie and all the way to Laos with Vietnam this way. Plus, this is a water way and a short cut road connecting Kampong Cham and Kratie. But, it is good idea to have another line connecting the two cities.

why does kampong cham to kratie have to go via snoul, why cant they cut the route shorter

Connect to vietnam via Snoul getting the first priority - NOT that kampong cham

Australia Courted for Further Railway Funding
Cambodia Daily 5 Feb 2013

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll8/Mongwin/railway_zps6676f3c8.jpg

Let's see the discussion on 16 Feb 2013 about the reconstruction of 7 km track from Aranyaprathet station at km 254+500 to Poipet station including the reconstruction of Poipet station at km 384+200 from Phnompenh as the following news published in The Cambodia Daily 7 Feb 2013 has implied:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/379362_598360310177614_320234815_n.jpg

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=598360310177614&set=a.159305647416418.40145.100000109521069&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll8/Mongwin/railway2_zpsc1fd5f03.jpg

Cambodia’s $11-billion iron ore mystery (http://m.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/asian-pacific-business/cambodias-11-billion-iron-ore-mystery/article8636474/?service=mobile)

ANDREW R.C. MARSHALL AND PRAK CHAN THUL
ROVIENG, CAMBODIA — REUTERS
Last updated Wednesday, Feb. 13 2013, 6:24 PM EST


A woman looks through a window in her house in the Rovieng District of Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, Feb. 10, 2013. The remote district boasts iron ore deposits – supposedly in such huge quantities two Chinese companies have an $11-billion plan to extract it. (SAMRANG PRING /Reuters)

The remote district of Rovieng was once a battleground between Cambodian government troops and Pol Pot’s genocidal Khmer Rouge. Unexploded bombs still lurk in its fields and forests.

So does something more desirable – iron ore – and supposedly in such huge quantities two Chinese companies have an $11-billion (U.S.) plan to extract it.

Canada forging trade links to Myanmar
Complacent Canada missing out on opportunities in Vietnam
Cambodia enters global marketplace, stock trading begins
Their proposal – a steel plant and seaport linked by a 404-kilometre railroad – has alarmed environmentalists, mystified mining and transport experts, and bolstered Cambodia’s reputation as an agent for Chinese expansionism in a region where the United States is increasingly competing for influence.

It is the latest in a series of mega-projects underscoring China’s growing economic clout in mainland Southeast Asia, while improving China’s access to supplies of raw material and ports in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea.

Work will soon begin on a $7-billion railway through Laos to link China’s Yunnan province with northeast Thailand. And in Myanmar work is almost finished on a $3-billion twin pipeline project to carry oil and gas to Yunnan from Myanmar’s Bay of Bengal coast.

The railway, port and steel project will be Cambodia’s largest, with a price tag not far off the value of the country’s $12.9-billion economy. The steel plant in Rovieng, in northern Cambodia, will be its first. The seaport on a Cambodian island in the Gulf of Thailand will be connected to the mainland by a three-kilometre bridge. The railroad will almost span Cambodia, although its exact route hasn’t been revealed.

“This is 65-per-cent iron,” says Sun Qi Cai, 58, caressing a heavy, gleaming lump of Rovieng rock. “Not many places have such high-quality ore.” That includes China, the world’s largest steel maker, where most ore has an iron content of less than 40 per cent.

Sun is a Chinese site manager for Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry Group, which on Dec. 31 signed a deal to build the three-part project with China Major Bridge Engineering Co., a subsidiary of state-owned behemoth China Railways Group.

The iron ore is destined for the steel plant – by law, ore cannot be exported from Cambodia. Mining experts could not hazard a guess as to how much ore is recoverable in Rovieng and there was no indication of how much steel it would produce and where the products would go.

Those are just some of the unanswered questions about the project.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Cambodia Iron and Steel general manager Zhang Chuan You said work would begin in July and be finished within four years. But Cambodia’s transport minister Tram Iv Tek, who also attended the ceremony, professed to know almost nothing about it. The conspicuous absence of authoritarian Prime Minister Hun Sen also left many wondering whether China’s mystery train was going anywhere.

“There are a lot of real things happening here with Chinese money,” says Daniel Mitchell, a long-time American resident who runs a Phnom Penh investment firm called SRP International. “I don’t think this railroad is one of them.”

Mining experts question whether northern Cambodia has enough mineral wealth to justify the project’s costs. Transport experts wonder why the Chinese railroad will not connect with Cambodia’s existing train system, which is already being refurbished at a cost of at least $141.6-million, or either of its ports.

The ambitious project could be as much strategic as economic. Chinese investment pledged in Cambodia has totalled $9.1-billion since 1994, including almost $1.2-billion in 2011 – eight times more than the United States, according to the Cambodia Investment Board. China is also Cambodia’s largest aid donor.

That money carries political clout. Last year, Cambodia used its powers as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to stymie discussion on the South China Sea, where China’s territorial claims overlap those of five other countries. Cambodia emerged as a staunch China ally willing to put the interests of its giant neighbour over those of its ASEAN members.

The lesson for Washington was clear.

“For U.S. strategists, if you neglect certain ASEAN countries you hurt U.S. interests,” says American scholar Carlyle Thayer, an Asia Pacific security expert at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra. “There’s a price to pay … because China’s economic dominance carries political influence, the U.S. has to compete across the board.”

Cambodia Iron and Steel doesn’t look like a billion-dollar company or, as Chinese media reports describe it, a Cambodian one.

It is registered to three Chinese nationals who, says Rovieng site manager Sun, are brothers. The only Cambodian found working at its Phnom Penh headquarters, a five-storey building flanked by a paint shop and a Korean restaurant, was the cleaner.

Despite its amateurish facade, other evidence suggests that Cambodia Iron and Steel is moving ahead with its project, and Cambodian officials know more than they publicly state.

On July 15 last year, telecoms and electricity officials were summoned to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to explain to a Chinese representative from Cambodia Iron and Steel where the country’s fibre optic and electrical cables were buried.

“He wanted to know so that the train track didn’t cut through them,” said a Cambodian who attended the meeting.

An official at the company’s Shanghai-based partner, China Major Bridge Engineering, said it would begin construction this year but gave no specific date.

In Myanmar, where a quasi-civilian government replaced a military dictatorship in March 2011, Chinese mega-projects have been catalysts for protest. China armed and supported Myanmar’s hated military during decades of Western sanctions, and is still resented by many people.

China’s ambassador to Myanmar, Li Junhua, has promised greater transparency from Chinese companies doing business in the country. In Cambodia, however, Chinese companies remain tight-lipped and closely allied with an authoritarian government that last year jailed record numbers of land-rights activists.

In one token of their close collaboration with the government, Chinese projects in Cambodia are often guarded by soldiers or military police. Chinese workers often dress in military fatigues.

No sign marks the entrance to Cambodia Iron and Steel’s vast site near Rovieng village, only a ramshackle house occupied by armed Cambodian soldiers who stopped Reuters from entering.

“I’m scared the Chinese will get angry,” one soldier said.

Som Soeun, 64, a community leader, was among hundreds of villagers who attended a 2011 ceremony in Rovieng to announce the building of a steel plant. Also present was Suy Sem, Cambodia’s Minister of Mines and Energy, who told villagers not to protest against a plant “needed for the country’s development,” Som Soeun recalled.

With the help of local people, Reuters reporters entered the same area and found no sign of construction. Trucks and other heavy machinery lay idle. Lumps of iron ore littered the deserted access roads.

The Cambodia Iron and Steel’s depot in Rovieng village already occupies what used to be community ground: the local soccer field. The depot also lay dormant. A villager who had befriended its few Chinese workers said they complained of being broke, bored and homesick.

The prospect of a railroad cutting a swathe through homes and land is unsettling, says Som Soeun. So is the continued silence from government and company officials.

“I am worrying every day now,” he says.

^^
Cambodia Daily 15 Feb 2013 version.

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll8/Mongwin/2-1_zps144ecc53.jpg

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll8/Mongwin/4-1_zpsb21aff63.jpg
http://cambodiatrainspotter.wordpress.com/2013/02/15/toll-royal-railways-yet-to-spend-pledged-funds/

PM promises revival of Cambodia rail link (http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/PM-promises-revival-of-Cambodia-rail-link-30203070.html)
The Nation on Sunday
Chachoengsao, Sa Kaew March 31, 2013 1:00 am

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/new/2013/03/31/national/images/30203070-01_big.jpg
An unused railway line connecting Sa Kaew's Aranyaprathet to Cambodia's Poi Pet may be revived and developed as part of a high-speed train project that will connect Thailand with other Asean countries, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday.

During the roaming Cabinet in the eastern provinces, Yingluck said Sa Kaew province has business potential and the government has included the province in the Bt2.2-trillion infrastructure development plan, which includes railways to connect Cambodia to cater to business growth in the region.

The six-kilometre section has not been maintained for years, making rail travel to and from Cambodia impossible. The link is part of the 10 Asean countries' plan to build a regional railway network to connect with China.

During her visit to Klong Luek checkpoint in Aranyaprathet district, Yingluck instructed officials to overhaul the immigration and customs system to reduce service time by up to two hours.

The prime minister said she also supported the opening of the Ban Nong Ean checkpoint in Aranyaprathet to connect with Ban Stung Bot in Banteay Meanchey province of Cambodia. However, she stressed that first the area must be confirmed as safe from landmines. She said if the Bt2.2-trillion loan is approved, the province could have automatic immigration channels that could cater to thousands of tourists passing through the border daily. Sa Kaew province has requested Bt37 million to upgrade the immigration system.

Yingluck praised the eastern border province of Sa Kaew for its clear development strategy by aiming to make the province a Green Energy City and Border Trade and Logistics Centre City.

Yingluck was speaking to Sa Kaew Governor Pakkathorn Thianchai and provincial officials during the roaming Cabinet meeting yesterday in Sa Kaew.

Pakkathorn has requested the Cabinet for funds to implement the following projects in order to implement the strategy: Bt59 million to build an energy plant distribution centre; Bt25 million to construct a central market in Wang Somboon district; Bt17 million to promote agriculture with "energy" plants such as tapioca.

Yingluck suggested that the province implement agricultural zoning to solve the water shortage.

The PM travelled on to Prachin Buri to visit Chaophya Abhaibhubejhr Hospital, known for its Thai traditional medicine production that meets Good Manufacturing Practice standards.

During the Cabinet meeting today in Chachoengsao, nine groups of protesters and supporters of the government will rally to air their grievances and show their support. Supporters include red shirts from eastern provinces, while protesters include those who oppose the Khao Hin Son power plant, those who oppose the expansion of Laem Chabang Port in Chon Buri, those who have not received compensation after the 2011 flooding, and farmers who have not received money from millers in the rice pledging scheme.

Thai-Cambodian rail revival
Last Updated on 01 April 2013 By Daniel de Carteret and Sorn Sarath

The activities of railway rehabilitated in Phnom Penh earlier. Photo Supplied
The railway line connecting Thailand with Cambodia at Poipet could be rehabilitated, Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday.

According to the Thai newspaper The Nation, the six-kilometre stretch of track would link the Thai province of Sa Kaew with Cambodia’s yet-to-be restored northern rail line under the Thai government’s $74 billion infrastructure development plan.

Shinawatra saw the potential of the rail link to enhance business interests and tourism between Thailand and Cambodia, The Nation reported.

Peter Brimble, deputy country dir-ector of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which is providing an $84 million loan to the Cambodian Railway Rehabilitation Project, said the ADB had not been involved in the political discussions but it was encouraging to see regional connectivity being enhanced.

“We have not been particularly involved in any of the political discussions about where the bridge is going to go and so on, but that is part of the northern line’s completion, so we would be happy to see those (discussions) going ahead,” Brimble said.

The Cambodian government was unable to add much detail, other than to say it was in continued discussions with Thailand on the railway project.

“Cambodia and Thailand have already worked on this project in the past,” Ly Borin, director of the Transport Ministry’s railway department, told the Post.

The Cambodian railway project has had problems with cost over-runs as well as the displacement and relocation of families living along the line’s route. The government is working with project partners the ADB and AusAid to address these issues.

Although the 256-kilometre southern line, linking Phnom Penh with the port of Sihanoukville, opened in December last year, the 337-kilometre northern line, connecting Phnom Penh with Poipet, is expected to be opened in several stages between next year and 2015.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013040164804/Business/thai-cambodian-rail-revival.html

Good News - KHTS Skytrain in Cambodia similar to BTS reveal again.

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/1143/khts.jpg

Happy April Fool Day <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< use mouse drag to answer.

^^ is this another one of those April's Fool joke?

^^ is this another one of those April's Fool joke?

Yes because bored to wait skytrain BTS like in cambodia.

I hope to see Electric railway with no rail-road crossing in PP, too.
it can make convenient for tourists and local people to direct to their destination.:)

Bids called on Cambodia rail link (http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/343563/thailand-to-open-bid-to-rebuild-tracks-with-cambodia)
ฺBangkok Post 2 Apr 2013 at 16.39

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) will call an e-auction on April 10 on work to renovate damaged tracks connecting Thailand with Cambodia at the Aranyaprathet-Poipet crossing, Transport Minister Chadchat Suttipan said on Tuesday.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/media/content/20130402/487792.jpg
A file photo in 1992 shows the last stop of the Thai tracks at Klong Luek in Aranyaprathet district, Sa Kaeo. The damaged tracks will be rehabilitated to reconnect Thailand with Cambodia by train. (Bangkok Post Photo)

The railway agency estimated the project will cost 2.8 billion baht. It will include rehabilitation of the six kilometres of tracks from Aranyaprathet station to Klong Luek, opposite Poipet district in Cambodia, and improvement of the existing tracks from Klong Sip Kao station to Aranyaprathet.

A bridge between Klong Luek and Poipet must be improved, and negotiations will take place with Cambodia on possible cost-sharing of the construction, the minister added.

The move followed a pledge by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Saturday to speed up the rail connection between the two countries.

The Aranyaprathet-Klong Luek sector was cut during the war in Cambodia, and has been left unused for almost three decades. The SRT must evict 50 households illegally occupying areas near the tracks before beginning the rehabilitation.

The Klong Luek-Poipet checkpoint is the main land gateway between Thailand and Cambodia. About 20,000 people cross the border every day, and trade through the checkpoint is worth 50 billion baht a year.

Mr Chadchat said the completed tracks will boost tourism and trade ties between the two countries.

The one-metre gauge tracks will connect with the Cambodian railway to Phnom Penh and onward to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Cambodia is improving its 337km line from Phnom Penh to Poipet, expected to be completed some time between next year and 2015, according to the Phnom Penh Post.

The project is financed by a loan from the Asian Development Bank, and also includes the 256km line linking Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville. The line was reopened in December last year.

The SRT will build a new 10km line along the border from Klong Luek to Ban Nong Ean, the minister said.

Thailand and Cambodia plan to open a new checkpoint at Bang Nong Ean to ease congestion at the Klong Luek checkpoint.

Cross-border rail repairs set for e-auction (http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/transport/343614/cross-border-rail-repairs-set-for-e-auction)
Bangkok Post Published: 3 Apr 2013 at 00.00

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) will hold an e-auction next Wednesday to repair a stretch of damaged track connecting Thailand with Cambodia, Transport Minister Chadchat Sittipunt said yesterday.

The railway agency estimated the project will cost 2.8 billion baht, including the cost of repairs to the 6-kilometre stretch of track from Aranyaprathet station to Klong Luek, opposite Poipet in Cambodia.

The project will also include improvements to the track from Klong Sip Kao station to Aranyaprathet.

Mr Chadchat said a bridge between Klong Luek and Poipet also needs to be upgraded. The government plans to negotiate an agreement with Cambodia to share the costs.

The announcement followed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's pledge on Saturday to speed up improvements to railway links with Cambodia.

The Aranyaprathet-Klong Luek section has been unused for almost three decades.

The SRT will have to evict 50 households that are encroaching on an area near the tracks to carry out the repairs.

The Klong Luek-Poipet checkpoint is the main overland crossing between Thailand and Cambodia.

About 20,000 people cross the border every day and trade through the checkpoint is worth about 50 million baht every year.

Mr Chadchat said the repaired tracks will bolster tourism and trade ties between the countries.

The 1-metre-gauge tracks will connect with the Cambodian railway that leads to Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

Cambodia meanwhile is improving its 337km line from Phnom Penh to Poipet and expects to have it done at some point in 2015, the Phnom Penh Post reported.

Hor Namhong Asks for More Cash for Rail Project (http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hor-namhong-asks-for-more-cash-for-rail-project-30272/)
The Cambodia Daily By Khuon Narim - June 11, 2013

Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong made another appeal to Australia for additional funds to complete a behind-schedule project to rehabilitate the country’s railway network, this time to newly appointed Australian Ambassador Alison Burrows, according to a ministry spokesman.

While work on the Southern Line of the railway, from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville’s seaport, is nearly completed, the project’s $141.6 million budget—most of which was provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB)—is not enough to complete repairs on the northern section of the rail line. An additional $75 million to $125 million is needed to finish the project and connect the line between Phnom Penh and Poipet City on the Thai border.

“His Excellency the Deputy Prime Minister [Mr. Namhong] made a request to the Australian government that it consider with the ADB to provide financing to rehabilitate the railway from Phnom Penh to Poipet because now trade between Cambodia and Thailand is increasing dramatically,” ministry spokesman Koy Kuong told reporters after the minister met with Ms. Burrows, who presented her credentials to King Norodom Sihamoni on May 30.

“Her Excellency Alison said that Australia was paying much attention to the railway because it can help to benefit the Cambodian people,” he said. Mr. Namhong made the same request to a visiting Australian government official in February.

The railway network, once rehabilitated, is expected to help reduce commercial transportation costs, lower consumer prices and make the country more attractive to outside investors.

But local housing rights groups, supported by an independent assessment of the rail rehabilitation project commissioned by the ADB, have repeatedly criticized both Australia and the ADB for not doing enough to mitigate the economic impact on the hundreds of poor families being evicted from their homes to make way for the project.

Mr. Kuong said the minister also invited Australia to send observers to monitor the country’s July 28 national election and complained about a statement the U.S. State Department issued Saturday criticizing the National Assembly for recently expelling 27 opposition lawmakers.

“Our government, especially the National Assembly, always respects and implements the laws of the National Assembly, and I appeal to every embassy in Cambodia to not interfere in the internal affairs of Cambodia because Cambodia is a democratic country,” he said.