Norry
The Norry rail taxi was an improvised form of transport in Cambodia, especially in the Battambang area . For tourists Norries were called " bamboo train " ( " bamboo train touted"), whose operation was organized by the local tourist police and monitored. In the 1980s, the first self-made rail taxi made of wood was used on the battered, former colonial route (northern line) by farmers who earned part of their living as drivers of the Norries. The rail taxis were similar to draisines with a loading area of around 3.5 by 2 meters on a two-axle metal frame , powered by a 6-hp petrol engine .
The rail taxis were necessary to transport people and loads in remote regions. There was even a timetable and right-of-way rules; before that, people always drove when the rail taxi was full. When two Norries met on the single-track route, the lighter of the two was unloaded and taken off the rail. A Norry that met two people driving in a row was also taken off the track. On parts of the route, the Norry also had to drive back to the next station, which was closer to the respective station. At the beginning, apart from the rail taxis, there were still a few freight trains running on the tracks , later the train service was stopped.
In the fall of 2017, Norry operations ceased due to construction work being carried out on the route to reactivate regular train services. A tourist museum railway has been in operation on four kilometers near Wat Banan since 2018 .
Web links
- GEO report: Cambodia's bamboo train ; Summary of arte-tv
- GEO-Reportage: Video - Awarded the Grimme Prize in 2010
Individual evidence
- ↑ Disneyland Cambodia: The Bamboo Train . Blog report on mjamm.com. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
- ↑ All About Battambang: NEW Bamboo Train 2018. Battambang, Cambodia. In: All About Battambang. Archived from the original on September 11, 2018 ; accessed on April 4, 2020 (English).