China to pay most of 257km Cambodia-Vietnam rail link

A feasibility study on the construction of a 257km railway linking Cambodia and Vietnam shows it will cost at least US$686 million, according to the Phnom Penh Post.

The railway will be part of an intra-Asian railway that runs from Singapore to China via Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam.

Under a scheme announced in 2008 to develop an intra-Asian railway, China has offered to contribute US$500 million to build the Cambodia-Vietnam stretch of the railway.

The overall cost estimate was announced on Wednesday (July 20) by the Third Railway Survey and Design Institute from the Chinese Railway Ministry which began the study in July, 2009.

The study results will be submitted to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen for his approval.

The 275km railway will start in Kampong Speu Province's Oudong District, pass by Kratie Province's Snuol District and end at Vietnam's Loc Ninh District in the southern border province of Binh Phuoc.

The US$686 million cost does not include resettlement compensation to residents who have to leave their homes to make way for the line.

Experts said the railway could bring huge economic benefits to Cambodia, especially in agriculture and mineral exploitation.

At present, Cambodia is revamping the country's existing rail links, including the 254km southern line from the capital to Sihanoukville, and the north line 388 from Phnom Penh to the border with Thailand thanks to an Asian Development Bank loan worth US$73 million.