Cambodia provides ‘missing link’ in Iron Silk Road rail project
By Andrew Buncombe,
Officials yesterday formally opened the first section of a new network that will stretch across the country and provide the missing link in a rail route that could reach from
“We are on the cusp of a contiguous
French colonial rulers were the first to lay rail tracks in
But by then
By April 1975, the rebels had seized control of the country and set in place a system of forced agricultural labour camps. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed or else died from starvation and disease.
Even after the Khmer Rouge were forced from power, the southern line that linked
The railway also faced a slow, steady decline as a lack of investment and maintenance. Across much of the network, crumbling stations and rusted locomotives effectively destroyed the service.
Even today, in many parts of
These homemade vehicles transport people and cargo at a slow pace, but only on short journeys. Things got so bad that last November the government declared the system shut and awarded a 30 year contract to an Australian company, Toll, to refurbish and operate the network. To do this, the company received a loan of $84m from the ADB.
Earlier this month, after investment in new rails, signs, locomotive repairs and training of the fledgling workforce, a freight service to Touk Meas, near the border with
“Upgrading the infrastructure will improve competitiveness in
Once
But not everyone in
Prak Pheam, 31, who lives north of
In a good week he can earn up to $25, but only a handful of bamboo drivers have been told they would receive compensation. Few understand how to apply for the money.
“It’s unfair that I’m not getting money,” he said. “I’ll have to go back to the rice fields. Or get a job on a train.”
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