Rail connection with Thailand to take place in March

[geovalin]

The railway networks in Cambodia and Thailand will be officially connected in March, the Transport Minister recently announced. The tracks on both sides of the border have already been finished, said Sun Chanthol, the Minister of Transport and Public Works.

 

“We will ask Prime Minister Hun Sen to preside over the official ceremony connecting both railway networks,” he said. “The rail tracks on both sides have been completed, and we have already negotiated a cross-border transport agreement with Thailand,” Mr Chanthol said. “Now the only thing left to do is for Thailand to sign the bilateral agreement.”

 

Named ‘western rail line’, the railroad connecting Phnom Penh and Poipet city, in the border with Thailand, was completed last year. It stretches over 386 kilometres, and will soon be connected to Thailand’s Arranyapratet province.

 

read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50568497/rail-connection-with-thailand-to-take-place-in-march/

 

 

-- © Copyright Khmer Times 14/01

[Assurancetourix]

Good news 

What will be the border crossing for passengers?
In the train or will they have to go down?
Will the train wait for them?

[Burma Bill]

Great, but this rail line, having left "proper" tracks either side of the border runs through "no man's land" in between right across the forecourt of a huge casino with no guard rails - it looks like a tram line set in concrete - no ballast or sleepers. Perhaps a halt will be built for punters at the casino!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Somehow, experience living here many years tell me, these kinds of things rarely happen when they're supposed to, if at all... And if they do eventually happen, it rarely ends up being as attractive or convenient as anyone might reasonably expect.

 

If memory serves, the trains in Cambodia and Thailand are different operators, maybe even different rail systems. So I'm assuming -- just assuming -- if they ever finish ironing out all the details, it's at least going to mean changing trains at the border.

 

[my friend I]

Change trains at the Thai Malaysia border everyday without problems.

[Burma Bill]

On 1/14/2019 at 7:14 PM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Somehow, experience living here many years tell me, these kinds of things rarely happen when they're supposed to, if at all... And if they do eventually happen, it rarely ends up being as attractive or convenient as anyone might reasonably expect.

 

If memory serves, the trains in Cambodia and Thailand are different operators, maybe even different rail systems. So I'm assuming -- just assuming -- if they ever finish ironing out all the details, it's at least going to mean changing trains at the border.

 

State Railways of Thailand (SRT) and Royal Railways (Cambodia) are the operators and both systems are linked at Poipet as I recently observed. The track gauge for both systems is one meter and the eventual plan is to run through trains between Bangkok and Phnom Penh. How customs formalities will be handled at the border, I have no idea but these days you can obtain e-visas online which avoid all the hassle. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

6 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

the eventual plan is to run through trains between Bangkok and Phnom Penh.

 

I guess it depends on how one defines "through trains".

 

I'd be shocked if Cambodia would ever allow a Thailand SRT train from BKK to travel directly all the way to PP including into Cambodia. And I'd be equally shocked if Thailand would ever allow a Cambodia train to cross the border and operate all the way into Thailand and BKK.

 

I don't believe there's any precedent for Thailand allowing foreign country train operations into the country...

 

Edited January 17, 2019 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[sletraveler]

Cambodia has a rail system? Didn’t know that. Or is it one track to Phnom Penh?


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[Burma Bill]

8 hours ago, sletraveler said:

Cambodia has a rail system? Didn’t know that. Or is it one track to Phnom Penh?


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

Yes indeed. There are 2 Royal Railway lines, one from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville and the other from Phnom Penh, via Battambang, to Poipet. Both lines were closed by the Khmer Rouge but remained "en-situ". Much reduced services now operate on both renovated lines. A section of the railway near Battambang was used by locals and it became the famous Bamboo Railway operating motorized carts (norrys). Today the Bamboo Railway has been relocated to a new site outside Battambang and is a tourist attraction independent of the Royal Railway system. A new route is in the planning from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh which will, it is hoped, enable trains in the future to run direct from Singapore, via Malaysia and Thailand, to Kunming in China.