Thailand to help finance 9-kilometre rail link with Lao capital

Feb 8, 2010, 9:36 GMT

Vientiane, Laos - Thailand has provided 303,000 dollars to finance design work on a railway link between the Thai border and Vientiane, media reports said Monday.

Work on the preliminary design of the 9-kilometre link began in October and should be completed within eight months, Lao National Railway Authority deputy director General Sonesack Nhansana said.

Sonesack said that once the design was completed, the Lao government would ask Thailand for financial support to build the railway. Construction should start this year and be completed by 2011, the Vientiane Times reported.

The Thai government pledged to fund construction of the railway with a grant for 30 per cent of the cost and a low-interest loan covering the remainder.

A rail link between the two countries over the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge was opened last year.

Although the train service is currently limited to passengers, Lao officials said facilities will be added to carry containers, which is to provide a new means for Laos to transport goods to Bangkok's port.

Laos' communist government has included the construction of a nationwide railway network as part of its next five-year socioeconomic development plan. It is now looking for funding sources.

A Malaysian company is conducting a feasibility study for a railway from Savannakhet city to the Laos-Vietnam border.