China-Laos Railway
| China-Laos Railway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route length: | 414 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top speed: | 160 km / h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dual track : | continuous | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The China-Laos Railway , also known as the Boten-Vientiane Railway , is a railway line under construction that runs from the Boten border crossing across Laos to the capital Vientiane on the border with Thailand . Construction began in 2016. In December 2017, 20.3% of the route was completed. The opening is planned for 2021.
history
In 2006, China proposed the construction of a 3900 km long Kunming – Singapore high-speed line , so that the travel time between the metropolises would have been reduced to a good ten hours. In 2011, China announced the start of construction work. The maximum speed specifications were later reduced to 160 km / h. After construction work worth $ 1.2 billion was awarded to the China Railway Group in September 2015, a groundbreaking ceremony took place in Laos in December of the same year , but construction work did not begin until December 2016.
financing
The total construction costs will amount to $ 5.7 billion. Because the small impoverished Laos with only seven million inhabitants could not finance the construction of the route, the country only participates with 30% in the construction of the route, the remaining 70% will be taken over by China. Laos guarantees the loans with its wealth of natural resources. Debt is roughly 80% of the nominal gross domestic product of Laos, making the country the fourth most indebted country in the world after Japan , Zimbabwe and Greece . It is estimated that the annual interest on the Chinese loan is around 20% of Laos government spending. Nonetheless, Laos officially takes the position that the country's economy will benefit from the rail line by making it easier to transport and reducing costs. Agriculture and industry as well as tourism would benefit from this.
Route description
The 414 km long route crosses the Truong Son Mountains , which is why a lot of engineering structures are necessary. It is calculated that almost 63% of the route is in tunnels. If all the tunnels were put together, they would stretch from Japan to Korea . A total of 154 bridges , 76 tunnels and 31 train stations are planned. Building the tunnels in the unstable limestone of the Truong Son Mountains is a challenge. The many duds from the Vietnam War that still exist are additional difficulties . It is said that American bombers dropped more explosives on Laos during this war than during the whole of World War II .
The border with China is crossed under with a 9680 m long tunnel, 7170 m in Laos and 2510 m in China.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Updates from the Laos-China Railway Project. Retrieved November 5, 2018 (American English).
- ↑ a b Fears for little Laos under China's Kunming-to-Singapore rail vision. Global Construction Review (GCR), January 22, 2014, accessed November 4, 2018 .
- ^ Kunming-Singapore High-Speed Railway begins construction. People's Daily Online, April 25, 2011, accessed November 4, 2018 .
- ^ A b Work on grand China-Laos railway kicks off, again. Global Construction Review (GCR), January 6, 2017, accessed November 4, 2018 .