A crowd of people disembark from a train on the Laos-China Railway. - Vientiane Times/ANN
VIENTIANE: The Laos-China Railway has operated more than 10,000 passenger trains since the start of this year, carrying a record number of passengers.
According to statistics from the Kunming branch of the Laos-China Railway Company, from January 1 to May 31, the railway ran 10,642 passenger trains carrying 8,723,000 passengers.
This was an increase of 17.5 percent compared to the same period in 2023, and has been a driving force in the development of the region.
A supervisor at the Passenger Transportation Department of the Laos-China Railway Company Kunming Branch said passenger trains are cheap, fast and convenient.
They have become the main choice of travel for tourists, students and businesspeople and are fostering cultural exchanges as well as creating economic prosperity in the region.
The Laos-China Railway is a landmark symbol of the friendship between Laos and China and has been a great boost to the success of Visit Laos Year 2024.
The new Guizhou-Vientiane route is a high-quality addition to the Laos-China tourist industry and a promising sign of exciting new developments in the years to come.
Since the end of 2023, the Laos-China Railway Company Limited and the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism have sought to bolster tourism in Laos through greater use of the railway.
This is being done by increasing the number of train trips and operating two trains together, making it easier for groups of tourists to buy tickets, creating an app that enables people to buy tickets online and developing more payment channels, and serving more food and drinks on trains.
Changes will be made to reduce the time taken to go through customs and immigration at the Laos-China border, while more stops will be added and other steps taken to improve the quality of train services.
The number of tourists coming to Laos via the Laos-China Railway is increasing every day, helping to fulfil the government’s ambition to rejuvenate the economy through tourism. - Vientiane Times/ANN
