HRH Princess Sirindhorn presides at inauguration of historic cross-Mekong rail service

Princess Sirindhorn departed from the nearby Udon Thani station on the State Railway of Thailand (SRT)'s train at 9am, taking an hour-long rail journey to Nong Khai for the maiden trip of the 3.5-kilometre rail link service between the two nations.

At Nong Khai, Princess Sirindhorn officially opened the State Railway of Thailand's library before making the historic trip from Nong Khai, crossing the Mekong River to Vientiane's Thanaleng station in the Lao Peoples' Democratic Republic.

The Thai Princess rang a bell to mark the start of rail services.

After arriving at Thanaleng Station, Princess Sirindhron co-chaired the official opening of the cross-border rail service with Lao PDR Vice-President Bounnhang Vorachith.

The fare for an air-conditioned second class journey is Bt80 per trip, while for ordinary third class it is Bt20.

It is projected that with the train making four round trips daily, revenue from the fares would exceed Bt10 million during the first year of service.

Construction of the six kilometre railway from the Friendship Bridge to Thanaleng Station was completed last year by the Lao National Railway Authority and the State Railway of Thailand to develop transport services between the two neighbours.

At the initial stage the service will offer two daily round trips, and the engine and carriages will park overnight at Thailand's Nongkhai station.

Trains depart Nong Khai station at 9.10am and reach the Lao station at 9.25am. After a scheduled 40-minute layover, the train leaves Thanaleng station at 10.05am and it will arrive at Nongkhai station at 10.20am.

For the second trip of the day, the train will leave Nongkhai railway station at 16:20 p.m and it will reach Thanaleng 16:35 p.m. Then the train will leave Thanaleng railway station for Nongkhai railway station at 17:20 p.m.

Lao Railway Authority Deputy Director General Sonesack N. Nhansan told the official KPL News on Friday that while the current equipment being used is operated by Thailand, the Lao PDR is talking with prospective suppliers and donors regarding both the rolling stock and extension of rail lines to other parts of the country.