Defence ministers discuss implications of Mekong railway project

DEFENCE ministers from six Mekong River states - Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam - have met in Vietnam to consider the implications arising from the construction of a railway to be completed in 2025 an cargo capacity of 230 million tonnes.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said the rail network is an important project for the development for Indochina. Only China and Vietnam have a rail connection a present while the other countries' railways are not linked Laos has no railway.

ADB has proposed four solutions. The most feasible one is to extend the rail line from Bangkok to Phnom Penh and then to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. From there, the connection can be extended to China's Nanning in Guangxi province and Cumming in Hunan province.

This proposed US$1.09 billion solution, the cheapest among others, does not require upgrading each countries' limited rail resources, which would cost an estimated cost of $7 billion.
(Source:www.schednet.com)