PHNOM PENH, June 15 (Reuters) - Cambodia has awarded a 30-year contract to manage its railway system to a venture led by Australia's Toll Holdings, which should boost trade and attract more tourists, company officials said on Monday.
The Southeast Asian country has two lines dating back to French colonial days in the 1930s running over 652 km (405 miles).
Toll is a leading provider of transport and logistics services in Asia. Eugene Cody, its general manager for Cambodia, said Toll would have a 55 percent stake in the venture, with 45 percent going to local partner Royal Group.
He and other officials would not reveal the investment planned nor give details on profit sharing with Cambodia's government, but they said the new system would be in place in 2011, complete with new imported locomotives.
The first line links the capital, Phnom Penh, to Poi Pet near the border with Thailand, while the second links Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville beach, the country's second-biggest tourist destination.
"Can you imagine being able to catch the train from Thailand to Cambodia, down through the rice fields before going to the beach. It's beautiful," said Australian Ray Yager, a spokesman for the Royal Group in Phnom Penh.
The rail infrastructure was badly damaged during the country's civil war in the 1970s but a service has continued for both freight and passengers.
The Asian Development Bank said in March it would provide a loan of $42 million to help renovate the railways.
(Reporting by Ek Madra; Editing by Alan Raybould)
The Southeast Asian country has two lines dating back to French colonial days in the 1930s running over 652 km (405 miles).
Toll is a leading provider of transport and logistics services in Asia. Eugene Cody, its general manager for Cambodia, said Toll would have a 55 percent stake in the venture, with 45 percent going to local partner Royal Group.
He and other officials would not reveal the investment planned nor give details on profit sharing with Cambodia's government, but they said the new system would be in place in 2011, complete with new imported locomotives.
The first line links the capital, Phnom Penh, to Poi Pet near the border with Thailand, while the second links Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville beach, the country's second-biggest tourist destination.
"Can you imagine being able to catch the train from Thailand to Cambodia, down through the rice fields before going to the beach. It's beautiful," said Australian Ray Yager, a spokesman for the Royal Group in Phnom Penh.
The rail infrastructure was badly damaged during the country's civil war in the 1970s but a service has continued for both freight and passengers.
The Asian Development Bank said in March it would provide a loan of $42 million to help renovate the railways.
(Reporting by Ek Madra; Editing by Alan Raybould)
4 comments:
It's not helping Khmer....it's helping ah HUN SEN's federation of Indochina where all the native Khmers have been slowly and painfully exterminated and replaced with the free YUON migration to Cambodia under HUN SEN and Hanoi's agreement!!!
Wake up people!
Let's hope that the railroad tracks will not like the Australian railways where Norhtbound trains cannot run on the Westbound railroad tracks and vice versa.
it's about time; way pass due for cambodian railway system, etc! cambodia will be much better by way of traveling, job creation, etc once modern infrastructure is put into place and use and improve in all of cambodia. cambodia, full speed ahead! cambodia as a country needs to modernize all of our infrastructure. don't wait too long already, we all only live once and would like to see cambodia fully developed sooner than later. god bless cambodia.
Let's talk about the real historical facts. The French built Phnom Penh- Poipet line in the 1930's. We Cambodian built Phnom Penh- Kompong Som line under King Sihanouk in the early 1960's after independence from France.
Post a Comment