Agreement On Trans-asian Railway To Be Finalized

[george]

Agreement on Trans-Asian railway to be finalized

BANGKOK: -- Twenty-seven countries in an intergovernmental meeting here are preparing to link 80,000km of railway lines to form a Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) network.

They are expected to finalize a draft agreement at their Nov 28-30 meeting at UNESCAP, the United Nations' Asian regional centre.

Transport officials from across the region will recall the development of the Trans-Asian Railway Network and finalize an agreement that will guide the spirit of their future cooperation.

The finalized agreement will be presented to the 62nd session of the UNESCAP Commission in 2006 for adoption, followed by signing ceremony at the Ministerial Conference on Transport later next year.

The TAR network comprises some 80,000km of internationally important rail routes linking 27 regional countries. The Network is intended to offer efficient transport services for moving goods within the UNESCAP region and between Asia and Europe, and provide improved access for landlocked countries to major ports.

The Intergovernmental Agreement is expected to play a catalytic role in building and upgrading railway lines in Asia.

A working group will meet every two years, serving as a forum where policy-makers and railway managers can define a common vision, adopt joint programmes, identify investment needs and sources, and recognise progress.

Formalization of the Trans-Asian railway network is a major step towards an integrated, international, intermodal transport network for Asia. A similar pact the Asian highway network came into force on July 4 this year.

--TNA-UNIS 2005-11-28

[ProfessorFart]

I'll believe this one when I see it.

They can't even get it together to link up Bangkok to Phnom Penh - an idea which has been mooted every now and again since the late 1990s.

Lets hope this actually means they are actually going to do it now.

[astral]

If it happens it will be like those under used road bridges to Laos.

Crossing borders will be hel_l until the sort out the visa side as well.

With one page a visa, will take up a full passport for the trip.

[gwmss15]

the main issue i have with this is that no extra funding is set aside each year to pay for the new rail lines plus details of routes seem not to be known. and the construction deadlines for each line is not known.

I feel this system will not occur unless the world bank or other 3rd party banking group puts the money up. untill more details are released i dont beleive this will be ever built.

plus i have heard this story for many years with zero progress on building anything.