The Lao government’s plan to build a 52.69 trillion kip high speed rail (HSR) track linking its territories bordering China to Vientiane has been stalled due to social and environmental concerns. The country had completed a 10-month feasibility study for the proposed 421 km rail route that will pass through the Boten, Luang, and Namtha provinces to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. The new rail line will allow a passenger train to run at 200 kmph from Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan province, to the China–Lao border and then on to Vientiane and Thailand. Laos is also planning another high speed track between Nong Khai, just across the border from Vientiane, and Bangkok. The country had signed an MoU with China in 2010 to carry out the project under a joint venture (JV), in which China and Laos will hold 70 per cent and 30 per cent stake, respectively.
