Cross-border passenger train on track to boost trade, relations with Laos

The opening of the service is set to bring prosperity to people in both countries. Luo Wangshu reports from Vientiane.

What can a high-quality railway bring to a less-developed region? China has answered that question with decades of efforts to build railways across the country, and those efforts have borne fruit.

An efficient transportation network boosts the movement of people and freight nationwide, driving local development in several fields, such as logistics, tourism and trade, and also promotes urban development and economic growth.

Now, China has handed Laos the key to economic growth by building a modern railway in the country.

The China-Laos Railway, which China helps operate, has turned Laos from a landlocked country into a land-linked hub in Southeast Asia.

It was built according to Chinese management and technical standards, and is a landmark project of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The 1,035-kilometer cross-border line, which has a designed speed of 160 km per hour, links Vientiane, the capital of Laos, to Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province, and then links with China's national railway network.

Travelers and cargo from every place the railway network extends in China can take the line to Laos, while passengers and freight are also carried in the other direction, of course.

The railway, which commenced operations on Dec 3, 2021, has driven significant growth in Laos' passenger and freight transportation sector.

As of April 18, the cross-border railway had handled 14.43 million passenger trips and 18.8 million metric tons of cargo, according to China Railway Kunming Group and the Laos-China Railway Co, the line's operators, on Wednesday.