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Jenny Z.

China-Laos Railway

December 3 at 16:45

As the train slowly drove out of Kunming Station

China-Laos Railway officially launched!


The China-Laos Railway is an important project of China's "The Belt and Road" initiative, which is connected with Laos' strategy of "turning a land-locked country into a land-linked country". International railway with Chinese equipment and direct connection to the Chinese railway network.


It starts from Kunming, China in the north, passes through Yuxi City, Pu'er City, and Xishuangbanna in the south, and reaches Vientiane, the capital of Laos. It has a total length of more than 1, 000 kilometers and a designed speed of 160 kilometers per hour. It is an electrified passenger and freight mixed-transport railway. A total of 43 stations have been set up, and 11 new stations have been set up in the domestic section, namely Eshan Station, Huainan Station, Yuanjiang Station, Mojiang Station, Ning'er Station, Pu'er Station, Yexianggu Station, Xishuangbanna Station, Lananba Station, and Mengla Station and Mohan Station.


After the launch of the China-Laos Railway, it only takes more than 3 hours from Kunming to Jinghong, and it is expected to achieve direct transportation to Vientiane, Laos, and same-day access. The interconnection between China and Laos will achieve leapfrog development, and it is expected to be connected to other countries in the Indo-China Peninsula in the future. , which has become a key starting section of the Trans-Asian Railway.


The rail system will link Kunming in southern China with Singapore via Laos, Thailand, and Malaysia. The railway adopts the standard-gauge electrified railway design with a gauge of 1435mm and can pass high-speed trains with a speed of more than 250km per hour. In Laos, the speed of passenger trains is between 160 and 200 kilometers per hour, and the speed of freight trains is 120 kilometers per hour.


This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Laos. The people of the two countries are looking forward to the smooth opening of this railway. It not only facilitates the travel of the people along the line and exchanges between the two countries but also promotes the development of tourism, agriculture, logistics, and other industries along the line, as well as for the special economic zones, Comprehensive development zone, urbanization construction has a huge role in promoting!


The construction of the railway is not a small project, and there are many difficulties


Difficulty 1. Huge construction volume


"The China-Laos Railway is not paved, but built and drilled"


The construction of the China-Laos railway has a huge volume and complex topography. The whole line needs to cross the Mopan Mountain, Ailao Mountain, and Wuliang Mountain; it needs to cross the Yuanjiang River, Amo River, Babian River, and Lancang River.


There are 167 tunnels on the whole line, with a total length of more than 590 kilometers, accounting for 63% of the total length of the whole line, and the construction task is heavy. There are 93 tunnels in the domestic section of more than 500 kilometers, with a bridge-to-tunnel ratio as high as 87%, 15 tunnels over 10 kilometers, and weak surrounding rocks account for 87%, making it extremely difficult to construct.


Difficulty 2. Complex topography


It is difficult to build roads in Yunnan, and it is even more difficult to build railways. Mud, water inrush, landslides, and high-temperature operations are all "common".


The domestic Yumo section of the China-Laos Railway has abundant rainfall throughout the year. It is located in the collision suture between the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate. Most of the tunnels pass through the fault zone. The surrounding rock is broken, the groundwater is abundant, and adverse geological disasters such as slumps, sudden surges, and large deformations are frequent. send. It has the characteristics of "three highs" and "four actives"*, its geological structure is complex, the construction is difficult, and the construction difficulty is beyond expectations.


“Three highs” refer to high geothermal heat, high geostress, and high seismic intensity; “four actives” refer to active neotectonic movements, active geothermal water environment, active external dynamic geological conditions, and active shallow bank slope transformation processes.



For more than 5 years, tens of thousands of builders have worked tirelessly, fought day and night, and used sweat, courage, and wisdom to open the longest stable tunnel on the entire line, protect Asian elephants through the Mengyang Tunnel in the Cross Country Elephant Valley, and connect China and Laos. friendship tunnel.



The highlights of the China-Laos Railway are also remarkable!


Highlights 1. Line stability and smoothness have reached the highest level in China


For the domestic section of the China-Laos Railway, the track quality index TQI value is 2.5, and the TQI value of the general-speed railway generally reaches 7 to qualify, while the domestic section of the China-Laos Railway is within 2.5. Created a new standard for rail engineering. It has ensured that the stability and smoothness of the domestic section of the China-Laos Railway have reached the highest level in China.


Highlight 2. Create a new benchmark for station building construction


In accordance with the concept of modern railway passenger station construction of "smooth integration, green warmth, economy and art, intelligence and convenience", the China-Laos Railway will build a batch of boutique stations that reflect Yunnan's regional culture and local ethnic characteristics.


Among them, the Yuxi area adopts the typical characteristics of the local Yi and Hani dwellings. Extract the form of eaves, the characteristics of bucket arches, and the decorative texture to form the characteristic style of the building


Highlight 3. Create a green ecological demonstration line


The concept of ecological environmental protection and biodiversity protection is applied throughout the whole process of railway construction. According to the characteristics of different climates, vegetation conditions, and regional cultures along the line, appropriate green plants are selected for planting according to local conditions, and the foundation is rammed and slopes are solidified to reduce soil erosion. Build a "green corridor" that integrates road and scenery, one station and one scene, presenting an ecological landscape of "evergreen in all seasons, flowers in the station area", and "landscapes follow the road, greens move with the car".


We believe that this friendship, technology, and green and open railway will surely carry the dreams of the people of China and Laos across the mountains and create brilliance!


It can also bring more shipping options and faster delivery to our buyers and sellers in Southeast Asia!


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