Deputy Director of the Laos-China Railway Company Anongdeth Phetkayson.
VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/Asia News Network): The Laos-China Railway Company has procured another EMU train to accommodate the growing number of passengers, with the train’s arrival in Laos expected on Sept 21.
The company’s Deputy Director, Anongdeth Phetkayson, said “The EMU train has been purchased to support passenger transportation both domestically and internationally, to support the increase in passengers and in preparation for Laos’ chairmanship of Asean and Visit Laos Year in 2024.”
The new train has a wireless charging system and a touch-sensitive seat adjustment system.
Since the inauguration of the railway in 2021, as of Sept 17, 2023, it had carried 3,197,600 passengers, averaging 4,889 passengers a day and with a record high of 10,197 passengers in one day. Over a period of just over eight months in 2023, the railway carried 1,759,900 passengers.
In terms of freight transport, from the first day of operation until Sept 17, 2023, a total of 5,381,900 tonnes of goods was exported, averaging 8,229 tonnes a day and with a maximum of 15,250 tonnes shipped in one day.
The main categories of goods carried on the railway were fruit, potato flour, barley, rubber, beer, iron ore, concentrated iron ore and chemical fertiliser.
A total of 770,900 tonnes of goods were shipped by rail from China to Laos, with 4,560,000 tonnes of freight transported from Laos to China.
This year, up until Sept 17, the volume of goods exported reached 3,101,400 tonnes, an increase of 138 per cent compared to the same period last year, with an average of 11,928 tonnes shipped each day, and a maximum shipment of 15,250 tonnes in one day.
Of this amount, 344,700 tonnes of freight was shipped from China to Laos and 2,752,200 million tons was transported from Laos to China.
