Cambodia and Vietnam signed an agreement on Saturday that will link the two countries' railways, an important step in the creation of a Southeast Asian rail network that will connect major cities and tourist destinations between Kunming and Singapore.

China will help Cambodia with completion of the rail link with Vietnam, according to an AFP report quoting Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong. The Cambodian segment of the 5,382 kilometer (3,344 mile) rail network is expected to cost more than US$500 million - Cambodia's domestic rail network is still in disrepair after a civil war that ended in the 1990s.

Improvement of Cambodia's rail connectivity with its Southeast Asian neighbors is expected to boost the country's small but fast-growing economy. Hor Namhong said that Cambodia-Vietnam cross-border trade in the first eight months of this year totaled US$1.7 billion.

The opening of rail traffic between Cambodia and Vietnam will add to existing Southeast Asian cross-border rail connections between Singapore and Malaysia and Malaysia and Thailand. Cambodia has a rail connection to its western neighbor Thailand – with which it has recently been engaged in a violent border dispute – but it has fallen into disuse.

Tags: Cambodia, Hor Namhong, logistics, Malaysia, Singapore, Southeast Asia, Thailand, trains, transportation, Vietnam

Malaysia has called for a clear timetable for the completion of the rail network that will link Kunming with Singapore, a project that has been ongoing since 1994.

Yesterday Malaysian Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat told the rail network's 10th Special Working Group Meeting in Putrajaya, according to Malaysian media reports.

The 5,382 kilometer (3,344 mile) rail network will connect Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam with Kunming and other cities in Yunnan. The main obstacle to getting the network up and running is the existence of around 550 kilometers of gaps between rail lines around the region. According to Ong:


Ong said that despite concerns about rising costs of construction materials, Malaysia was not going to pressure poorer countries in the region – ie Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar – to meet the generally hoped-for completion target of 2015, although Malaysia's last gaps will be filled before then.


Once completed, the rail network is expected to greatly boost regional trade and tourism as well as contributing to poverty reduction in poorer areas throughout the region. It will also bolster Kunming's position as the primary Chinese logistics hub for trade with Southeast Asian countries.

Tags: Cambodia, Laos, logistics, Malaysia, Myanmar, Ong Tee Keat, Putrajaya, Singapore, Southeast Asia, Thailand, tourism, trade, trains, transportation, Vietnam

Tuesday more than 20,000 travelers finally left the Kunming train station after spending hours and some even days waiting for their trains to leave for other cities in China, according to Kunming media reports. The travelers had begun to accumulate at the train station over the 27th and 28th as dozens of train lines were delayed by the winter storm that has battered central and southern China.

The Kunming Ministry of Railways has decided to restart selling tickets today for seats on train K472 leaving for Beijing West Station tomorrow.

The ministry announced that it has also decided to temporarily stop ticket sales for trains leaving Kunming on February 3 for Beijing (Train T62), Beijing West Station (K472), Shanghai (K80 and K182), Shanghai South Station (L496), Wuchang (K110), Nanjing West Station (K156), Zhengzhou (K338), Chongqing (K160 and K168) and Neijiang (L748).

Queries about train ticket sales, delays and cancellations can be directed to a special hotline recently set up to deal with the havoc caused by the winter storm: (0871) 6122122.

Image: railcn.net

Tags: trains, travel, winter storm

The Kunming Daily is reporting that the winter weather wreaking havoc upon the transportation networks in central and southern China has left nearly 8,000 Chinese New Year travelers held up in Kunming, just days into a holiday season that was expected to see 22 million travelers pass through Chinese airports and 179 million travelers riding the country's trains.

Kunming Wujiaba International Airport was reporting 21 delayed flights and more than 2,000 travelers stuck in limbo on Sunday due to inclement weather at airports in Changsha, Tianjin, Sanya, Wenzhou, Hefei, Nanjing, Qingdao and other airports stretching from the Bohai Bay down to the South China Sea, according to Kunming media reports. Kunming Airport is reportedly scrambling to make food and lodging arrangements for the stranded travelers.

Rail travel in and out of Kunming has also been affected by the extreme weather, with the city's railway station announcing that in the coming few days, train departures and arrivals could be delayed by the resurgence of winter in much of the country. A hotline has been set up to deal with Kunming-related rail travel queries: (0871) 6122122.

Road transport in and around Yunnan province has also been affected. Buses between Kunming and Diqing prefecture - located near the Yunnan-Tibet border - have been delayed indefinitely as snow continues to fall upon Diqing. Passenger bus service leading from Yunnan northeastward toward Guizhou has also been suspended due to extreme weather in the province, which neighbors Yunnan.

Virtually all of China is feeling the impact of the winter weather upon the central and southern regions as many connecting flights located in affected areas have been delayed. Major trunk rail lines and highways in other less-affected areas are also feeling the strain of the bad weather far away – on Sunday Guangzhou's rail station was reporting more than 100,000 stranded travelers, with that number expected to increase.

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Tags: Chinese New Year, Diqing, trains, travel, winter storm

Kunming Station last Friday at 6:00 am

With Chinese New Year just around the corner – this year it lands on February 7 – China is preparing for a major surge in domestic travel. At the beginning of next month, millions of students, soldiers, workers and businesspeople throughout the country will meet up with family and friends to celebrate the end of winter and the coming of spring.

More than 22 million air passengers are expected to fly China's skies this holiday - which is known in China as Spring Festival. The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) has announced that it might add temporary domestic flight routes to handle the spike in air travel. CAAC said it will 'strictly control' air traffic in Kunming's Wujiaba International Airport plus other major airports in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chengdu to ensure everything goes smoothly during the holiday.

Air travel may be increasingly popular with Chinese travelers, but the majority of people returning home will get where they're going via China's extensive rail network. China's Ministry of Railways is expecting nearly 179 million rail travelers – almost the population of Brazil – this holiday season. The ministry is adding 311 trains to the normal national rail schedule to absorb the increase in travelers.

Kunming's main rail station is anticipating a major influx in ticket buyers this month, to address the demand for train tickets it is building 40 temporary ticket windows in front of the station. The windows will sell tickets 24 hours a day beginning Wednesday of this week and lasting through the holiday.

Aside from increased travel, the Chinese New Year season is also a time for higher food and drink prices as a large percentage of China's billion-plus population spend the holidays focused on eating and drinking. This year rising food prices are putting more pressure on holiday budgets than usual. Even beer as well as baijiu and other traditional Chinese wines spirits are feeling the bite of inflation as alcohol prices in China are experiencing unprecedented price hikes, blamed on rising costs for grain, coal and transport.

Image: clzg.cn

Tags: Beijing, CAAC, Chengdu, Chinese New Year, Guangzhou, Shanghai, trains, travel

It's no secret that Kunming has long been a step behind the coastal cities when it comes to business investment and development. This trend has started to shift as big business starts to take increasing interest in second-tier cities. This shift has led to an increasing number of Chinese and laowai moving to or returning to the Spring City.

Having recently decided to return to "the real China", I was faced with the task of moving several years worth of accumulated stuff from Shanghai to Kunming. A trip over to the rail station in Shanghai found me some answers. China Railway Express Limited is the state-owned company that runs the rail freight network. On top of this, there are a number of smaller service providers who run the mini-vans to collect your stuff, and provide the labour to pack it up. Guys from these companies hang out at the China Railway Express office, touting for business. One of these guys, Mr Liu, talked me through the procedure, and gave me his number.

At journey's end

The day before I was due to send my stuff, I contacted Mr Liu to arrange a time. At the agreed time, Liu and his colleague arrived and packed my stuff into boxes with impressive speed. After the mini-van ride to the consignment depot, my stuff was strapped up and wrapped more throughly, and weighed. It all went very smoothly.

For the express Shanghai-Kunming service, which takes three days, the fee is 5.5 kuai per kilogram. There's no 'size' component to the pricing. Fluids (and presumably dangerous goods) are not allowed. My bike (in a bike-bag) was accepted without problem.

At the Kunming end, the mini-van driver called the number I'd left, and delivered the stuff direct to my Kunming address.

Liu's fee was 70 kuai, the corresponding mini-van fee at the Kunming end was 30 kuai. Door-to-door delivery of 200kg of stuff for 1200 kuai, all-in - to my mind, a bargain.

Tags: logistics, Shanghai, trains, travel

Last weekend in Beijing the State Council's Office for Western China Development announced that this year ten major development projects with an investment of more than 151.6 billion yuan were being launched across western China. Of the ten major projects, two are located in Yunnan.

This year work has begun on the new Kunming international airport which is projected to be the third- or fourth-largest in China upon completion in four or five years. Once operational, the airport is expected to greatly enhance Kunming's international connectivity via new routes to Europe, North America, South Asia and Australia.

The other main project in Yunnan underway as of this year is the Dali-Ruili railway, which will extend the existing Kunming-Dali line through Baoshan to Ruili, in western Yunnan on China's border with Myanmar. The line is part of the rail network that will connect Yunnan with major cities in Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and also with Singapore. The regional rail network is projected for completion by 2015 and is expected to play a major role in the upcoming China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA).

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Tags: air travel, ASEAN, CAFTA, logistics, trains, travel

Financial backers are being sought for the estimated US$15 billion regional rail network connecting Kunming with Singapore, according to Malaysian media reports.

China and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are both being eyed as potential financiers for the project, according to statements made by Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz today during a visit to China.

Mrs Rafidah said the ASEAN-Mekong Basin Development Cooperation Council was currently working out the financial side of the 5,000-kilometer regional rail network which will link Kunming and other cities in Yunnan with Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

Malaysia is acting as project coordinator for a feasibility study of the rail network, which has a target completion date of 2015, although it is still unclear whether this is an attainable goal.

Tags: business, Cambodia, Laos, logistics, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, trains, transportation, Vietnam