News: October 2024

News

• I took my family on a South East Asia rail adventure for just £76

“Train journeys aren’t the preserve of older, slower travellers – families can explore the world by train too, and it needn’t cost a fortune.”

🇰🇭 Cambodia

• Government appoints national committee to push railway construction

"In response to a call from the Prime Minister to speed up negotiations for railway projects, a committee has been formed to steer the process."

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• Jokowi and Southeast Asia’s first high-speed railway

• Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway transports 5.79 mln passengers in first year

• Indonesia presses China for more investment in high-speed railways

• Indonesia targets completion of feasibility study for Jakarta-Surabaya HSR extension by year-end

• Indonesia's longest elevated railway to operate by November 1

"Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi announced on Sunday that Indonesia's longest elevated railway, located at the Joglo intersection in Solo, Central Java, is expected to begin operations by November 1 at the latest."

• Journey through Java with Aman: Possibly one of the most luxurious and romantic ways to travel

• Bullet trains and golden temples: This is Java by train

🇱🇦 Laos

• Passenger wagon boost to meet high demand on Thai-Laos link

“More than 13,000 passengers have used the cross-border service of the Bangkok-Vientiane rail route since it opened on July 19, prompting the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) to put on another passenger wagon to serve demand.”

• StarExpress tourist train launches, connecting Kunming to Laos

• S. Korea pleased to support Laos as vital logistics hub

"South Korea is pleased to consider Laos’ proposal for assistance with the construction of the Hanoi-Vientiane Expressway and the Vientiane-Vung Ang Railway."

🇲🇾 Malaysia

• Padang Besar Station: crossing the Malaysia-Thailand border by train

A guide to the Padang Besar Railway Station border crossing between Malaysia and Thailand.

• ECRL construction in Kelantan on track at 83.27pc, set for July 2025 completion, passenger service to start 2027, says state public works director

• Proposed Sarawak-Sabah-Kalimantan project categorised as Mega Asean Connectivity project

"The proposed railway link is going to be one of the biggest railway projects in Asean."

• Selangor plans to connect its own proposed rail line with ECRL

• Proposed railway line from Kudat to Kota Kinabalu: a mountain to climb

🇲🇲 Myanmar

• Myanmar Railways introduces modern DEMU trains for Yangon-Bago route

• Books: A train journey through Myanmar's violent history

🇵🇭 Philippines

• Philippines: On the verge of a 'railway renaissance'

• Japan reaffirms support for Phl North-South Railway

• DOTr eyes over 3-fold increase in railway tracks by 2030s

🇹🇭 Thailand

• Khon Kaen to Nong Khai track by 2027

“Construction of the second phase of the double-track railway from Khon Kaen to Nong Khai, worth 28.6 billion baht, will begin at the end of this year and take roughly three years to complete, said Governor Veeris Ammarapala of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT).”

• Bookings open on Oct 24 for ‘floating’ train trips to Pa Sak Jolasid Dam

"SRT to operate the special service on weekends from November to January."

• Explore Thailand’s cultural and scenic railway routes this winter

🇻🇳 Vietnam

• Vietnam's high-speed railway sections to break ground in 2027

• Vietnam plans US$67 billion high-speed railway with no foreign capital

• 7.2 billion USD railway project ready for planning appraisal

"The Vietnam Railway Authority has asked the Ministry of Transport for a planning appraisal of the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong-Quang Ninh railway line."

• Hanoi train street still draws crowds of tourists despite warnings of danger