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| Luang Prabang railway station |
The new Laos-China Railway is a remarkable feat of engineering. In under 5 years they burrowed their way through mountains and over river valleys to build 260 miles of railway line, including 157 bridges and 74 tunnels, and delivered the project on time, at a cost of $6 billion. Eat your heart out HS2!
When we last went to the capital city, Vientiane, a few years ago, it took us two days in a crowded and battered bus along twisting potholed roads. The new train takes just 1 hour 45 minutes.
Designed and mainly funded by China, the Boten to Vientiane railway is just one section of the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (announced by Xi Jinping in 2013), which "aims to connect Asia with Africa and Europe". The next section will connect to Bangkok and then down to Singapore. Before construction began in 2016, Laos had just 7 km of railway!
According to Hobomaps, the railway is "entirely powered by rainfall" because the main source of electricity is the Nam Ou river and its cascade of 7 hydropower dams and power plants. The trains are classified as Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) trains; each rail car is self-propelled instead of being pulled or pushed by a traditional engine.
When the LCR opened to passengers in April 2023 it had a few teething troubles. Tickets were difficult to buy (only 3 days in advance, with cash, if you had a Lao passport) and there were long queues at the station. Nevertheless it has been a huge success and is very popular with tourists and locals alike. Whether the projected (by some) positive impact on the Lao economy is enough to support the massive debt incurred remains to be seen. Apparently Laos will need to cough up debt repayments of about $1.2 billion for the next 5 years and it's not entirely clear that exports to China are flowing freely yet.
Our experience travelling to Vientiane from Luang Prabang and back was comfortable and completely stress-free. We bought the tickets on line (about $19 each), got Kian to take us to the station (30 minutes), went straight through the security system (people had reported difficulties with vapes, penknives and aerosols), and into the magnificent station concourse. Fifteen minutes before departure we were allowed onto the platform (QR codes scanned at the doors). We all had allocated seat numbers so it's very easy to navigate.
The journey itself is smooth and fast (160 km/h most of the time). When you can see it, the scenery is spectacular, although it has to be said that over half the time we were in tunnels!
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| LPb railway station is an elegant building about 12 km from the centre of town |
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| Announcements are in Lao, Chinese and English |
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| Queuing was orderly! |
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| A rare glimpse of scenery en route |
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| Arrival at Vientiane, on time on the dot |
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| We crammed into a jumbo taxi with a dozen or so Laotians for the trip from the station to the centre of the city. Interesting to see one of the very few high-rise buildings that have started to be built here |
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| Patuxai Arch is a well-known landmark in central Vientiane |
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| Although we were unable to walk far (because of Trevann's hip), we did find this lovely park at the end of the road near our hotel |
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| It's a nice little hotel. We'll go again |
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| Vientiane Station is similar to LPb but not as elegant |
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| All the train guards seemed to be women |
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| More fleeting glimpses on the way back |
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| And the ever-reliable Kian waiting to pick us up |
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