Introduction To Cambodia Railways
“The Royal Government of Cambodia has outsourced its railway operations under a 30 year exclusive concession to Royal Railway to operate the Cambodian Railway Network.”
The railway network in Cambodia consists of two lines: the Southern Line and the Northern Line. The Southern Line extends from Phnom Penh to Sihanouk Ville, having a total length of 266 km and originally was built with 43 kg/m rail on timber sleepers for the maximum axle load of 20 tons. On the other hand, the Northern Line was built with 30 kg/m rail on steel sleepers with the maximum axle load of 15 tons, and connects Phnom Penh to Poipet on the border with the Kingdom of Thailand with a total length of 386 km.
The Cambodia’s railway, in particular the Northern Line forms a strategic link in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Transport Sector Strategy’s Southern Corridor and it is play an important role as the transport and economy corridor, which interconnects Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. The Project would pave the way for the proposed future construction of a new railway line between Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City in Viet Nam, and Phnom Penh and Vientiane City in Laos which together with the Project line would realize the Singapore to Kunming Railway Link (SKRL), which is a long term development priority for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In terms of railway lines, the Northern Line will also take the initiate in building a new economic corridor in Southeast Asia that connects Phnom Penh (Cambodia) – Vientiane (Laos) – Kunming (China) and Phnom Penh (Cambodia) – Bangkok (Thailand) – Kuantan (Malaysia). With assistance from Asian Development Bank (ADB), Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Rehabilitation of the Railway in Cambodia Project was implemented. This Railway Rehabilitation Project involved two major components.
Current and future railway infrastructure projects
- Poi Pet Sisophon 48 km, concrete railroad ties, can support 20 tons / axis (Opening April 04, 2018)
- Serey Sophorn Battambang 65 km, metal railroad ties, can support up to 15 tons / axis (Launched on April 29, 2018)
- Battambang Pursat 107 km, metal railroad ties, can support 15 tons / thigh (Commencing May 29, 2018)
- Pursat Battambang 134 kmm and Battambang – Phnom Penh 32 km, metal railroad ties, can support 15 ton / axis (launched on July 3, 2018).
Service divided to 3 lines
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Phnom Penh Airport Shuttle
The first airport rail link in Cambodia connecting the International Airport to the railway station in the city.
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Phnom Penh – Sihanoukville Line
The first fully restored line under Royal Railway formatting a vital link connecting the capital of Cambodia to the southern line of Sihanoukville. Passenger trains serve the line on weekends and public holidays, with the line mainly serving freight trains.
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Phnom Penh – Poipet Line
The vital link connecting the capital of Cambodia to Poipet near the border of Thailand through Battambang, south of Tonle Sap River, providing a critical connection with the rest of the Southeast Asian railway network through Thailand to Laos, Malaysia and Singapore.
The first component, the rehabilitation of the Southern Line; including the repair and strengthening of the track bed, the placing of ballast, the replacement of unserviceable timber sleepers with PC sleepers, continuous welding of rails, the rehabilitation and reconstruction of bridges and culverts, construction of level crossings and the rehabilitation of the rail link with Sihanouk Ville Port including construction of container terminal and construction of bulk sidings inside Sihanouk Ville Port. The railway rehabilitation on the Southern Line was completed in earlier 2013 and the construction of container terminal in Sihanouk Ville Port was substantially completed at the end of 2014 and the construction of the bulk sidings inside Sihanouk Ville Port was completed in February 2015.
The second component consists of the rehabilitation of the Northern Line comprising of;
- The rehabilitation of the section between Phnom Penh to Sisophon; including the repair and strengthening of track bed, the placing and tamping of ballast, the installation of missing fittings, the repair and reconstruction of bridges and culverts, the rehabilitation of the spur line to Green Trade Warehouse (GTW), and
- The reconstruction of a 48 km section of the Missing Link (ML) from Sisophon at PK338+500 to Poipet at the Thai border at PK385 to re-establish the railway connection across the border. The Works includes reformation of the track bed, ballasting, installation of PC sleepers, placing salvaged BS80A rail donated from Malaysia, rehabilitation and construction of the drainage system, the construction of a passing loop, the construction of level crossing facilities and a new station building at Poipet. However, due to financial shortage for the Project, the Northern Line could not be fully completed as it was planned. ADB and RGC agreed to significantly reduce the scopes on NL. The works achieved on the Northern Line were (i) rehabilitation of approximately 23 km of the track from Bifurcation Station at PK9+400 to Bat Doeung Station at approximately PK32 using the existing steel sleepers and P30 rails;
- Reconstruction of the approximately 41.5 km out of approximately 48 km of the Missing Link from Sisophon at PK338+500 to PK378+500 near Poipet town. In this section, BS80A rails on PC sleepers were used and the rails are connected with fishplates, but not all joints.