Rail transport in Myanmar

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Myanma Railways route network

The rail transport in Myanmar , formerly Burma, is mainly from the state Myanma Railways handled that one meterspuriges operates route network of 6208 km in length.

history

Rangun's first main train station , destroyed in 1943

The first railway in Myanmar was built in what was then the British colony of Unterbirma . The 262 km long route connected Rangoon with Pyay and was opened in 1877. For a British colonial railway, the meter gauge chosen for the construction of the line was rather unusual. Further routes followed, so that at the beginning of the 20th century a network of almost 3,200 km in length was created in Lower and Upper Burma .

The Japanese conquest of Burma during World War II caused considerable damage to the railway network; As part of the reconstruction, the Thailand-Burma Railway was built with the help of 200,000 Asian forced laborers and around 60,000 Allied prisoners of war , which is also known as the Death Railway because many workers were killed during the construction. This route also includes the bridge over the Kwai , which is known from a novel and feature films.

The expulsion of the Japanese from Burma by the Allies caused further damage to the railway network, so that at the end of the war just 1085 km of route in four isolated sections were in operation. The connection established by the death railway to Thailand was no longer used, so that the section of this line in Burma was permanently closed; the rest of the Burmese network has been rebuilt. In the 1970s, additional routes were built so that the current network is around 6,200 km long.

stretch

Station building of Yangon Central Station
Passenger train in Yangon Central Station, 2013
Encounter on the Ringbahn Rangun, in front of the return train a DD 1100 built in China

Myanma Railways network

The Myanma Railways network, which is over 6000 km long, is mostly single-track, only 701 km are double-track. It serves 609 train stations and runs over 12099 bridges. The routes have a minimum curve radius of 200 m, the gradients are 10 ‰ in the flatter sections and up to 40 ‰ on mountain routes. Rails with a weight of 37 kg / m are used, which are laid on wooden or concrete sleepers that lie in a 12 cm thick ballast bed . The route network is designed for an axle load of 12.5 t .

Border crossings

The Myanma Railways network no longer has any connection to rail networks in neighboring countries. The following border crossings are planned:

  • IndiaIndia India
    • Railway Kalay – Tamu : On the Myanmar side, a 135 km long line from Kalay to Tamu is to be built. In the state of Manipur in northeast India, the broad-gauge line from Jiribam to Imphal is under construction, but it has to be extended 70 km to the border crossing at Moreh.
  • ThailandThailand Thailand
    • Thailand-Burma Railway : This railway line was only in operation for 17 months from 1943 to 1945. The border crossing was at the Three Pagoda Pass .
    • Railway line Thanbyuzayat – Three Pagoda Pass : This line would have corresponded to a new construction of the Thailand-Burma railway and was part of the ambitious project to build a high-speed line from Kunming to Singapore . The project was officially discarded in 2011 because the future rail line on the Thai side is no longer available due to a dam.
    • Dawei – Kanchanaburi railway line : As a replacement for the no longer possible route over the Three Pagoda Pass, a 250 km connection is planned from the Dawei deep-sea port to Kanchanaburi in Thailand, which will lead over the Phu Nam Ron .
  • China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China
    • Lashio – Muse railway line : From the Chinese border to Kyaukpyu on the Bay of Bengal , an 869 km long line is to be built that will continue on the Chinese side to Kunming. The one in Myanmar is to be built in the BOT operator model by China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC). A letter of intent was signed in 2011 for the construction of the line and has been extended several times. In 2018 a feasibility study was started for the 430 km long section from the border to Mandalay , which is to be built as a standard gauge line. On the Chinese side, the 330 km stretch from Dali to Ruli is under construction. it should be operated electrically and driven at 140 km / h.
  • vehicles

  • When Krupp -built diesel-hydraulic locomotive of the DD 900 series in Yangon, 2013

  • Six-axle diesel locomotive in Rangoon, 2013

  • Diesel-electric locomotive from Alsthom in Rangoon

  • Japanese type KiHa 40 multiple unit on the Ringbahn in Rangoon

  • KiHa 11 series diesel multiple unit acquired second-hand from Japan

Burma Mines Railway

The Burma Mines Railway is an 80 km long railway with a gauge of 610 mm (2 feet) that is used for the transport of silver and lead ore to the smelter in Namtu . The route runs from Namyao, on the Mandalay - Lashio route of the Myanmar Railways, via Namtu to Bawdwin and is 80 kilometers long. The railway was built from 1907 to 1908. At the beginning of the 1980s, the route was switched from steam to diesel operation. The renovation work on the route came to a standstill when a part was buried in 2011. In 2015, the ore transports had already moved to the road and the commercial operation of the railway was discontinued. However, there are still two operational steam locomotives available for special trains.

tram

Rangoon

Former tram in Yangon

The Yangon tram was built as a steam tram at the end of the 19th century . In 1905, the Rangoon Electric Tramway and Supply Company was founded in Liverpool , which operated a route network with 77 trams until 1921 and carried over 40 million passengers in the mid-1930s. The tram was destroyed during the Second World War, as was the associated power station , which also ensured the public electricity supply. After the war, the tram was no longer built and the power plant was nationalized in 1953. After the compensation of the shareholders of the tram company had been clarified, it was dissolved in 1961.

In 2016, a 4.8 km long tram was installed on the former freight line along Strand Road. The only vehicle was a used three-part motor coach from Hiroshima . In order for this to run, a third rail had to be laid to the meter gauge track. The operation was stopped after only six months because the tram was not used.

Mandalay

Former tram in Mandalay

The Yangon tram was in service from 1904 to 1942. Three lines laid out in Cape Gauge were operated, on which 24 wagons operated. The facility, built by Dick, Kerr & Co. , was destroyed during an air raid and never rebuilt.

Web links

  • Ministry of Rail Transportation (Ed.): Developing a Myanma's Rail Network that meet demand . November 23, 2015 ( unescap.org [PDF]).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Ministry of Rail Transportation, p. 27
  2. ↑ a b c d Glyn Williams: Railways in Myanmar (Burma). Retrieved November 23, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b c Brief presentation at: Ministry of Rail Transportation Myanma Railways, accessed December 9, 2018
  4. ^ Ministry of Rail Transportation, p. 26
  5. ↑ a b ESCAP (Ed.): Monograph Series on Transport Facilitation of International Railway Transport in Asia and the Pacific . 2013, 2. Current operational status of international railway transport in the region, p. 8, 16-17 ( unescap.org ).
  6. ↑ a b c d Ministry of Rail Transportation, pp. 40–43
  7. ↑ China – Myanmar railway accord signed . In: International Railway Journal . Volume 58, No. 11 , November 2018, p. 7 .
  8. ^ Burma Mines Railway. In: FIBIwiki. Retrieved November 23, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Bernd Seiler: Burma Mines Railway, Myanmar: Golden Land and Cambodia Quickie. 2014 .;
  10. ↑ Jan Ford: Jan Ford's World: Rangoon Tramways. In: Jan Ford's World. 5th July 2015 .;
  11. ↑ No more electric tram on Yangon's Strand Road. Coconuts Yangon, July 1, 2016 (American English).;
  12. ^ Electric Tramway in Mandalay. Street Railway Review, November 20, 1904. Page 913.