Feasibility study planned for rail links with Thailand and Vietnam

A major study is in the pipeline to evaluate the feasibility of building a new railway line through Cambodia linking Thailand and Vietnam, which aims to spruce up the domestic transportation system and enhance cross-border trade, according to Minister of Public Works and Transport Sun Chanthol.

The minister told reporters recently that the proposed route would connect Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet town on the Thai border, Siem Reap, Kampong Thom, Kampong Chhnang, Phnom Penh, and Svay Rieng’s Bavet town on the Vietnamese frontier, with plans for onward trains to Ho Chi Minh City via Moc Bai.

Chanthol mentioned high-speed ambitions for this route back in December, although he did not provide a ballpark figure for the maximum speed at the time. However, at a late-June event, the minister brought up proposals to convert the existing Northern and Southern Railway Lines into…