Industrial rail project gathers steam with government push
Transport Minister Sun Chanthol has vowed to reinvigorate a long-dormant project to connect the Kingdom’s sole operating railway line to the capital’s biggest industrial park – a move that would boost rail traffic ahead of the completion of a rail link to northwestern Cambodia and Thailand. Chanthol said during the opening of a workshop for the National Logistics Council on December 5 that his ministry was pushing Royal Railway, which owns a 30-year concession to operate the Kingdom’s railway network, to build a spur into the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone. “There are a lot of factories there and workers that need to travel to the zone,” he said. “This will benefit the railway and help the zone get goods to and from factories.” A rail link was always on the cards. The 266-kilometre Southern Line that runs from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville skirts the eastern edge of the 357-hectare industrial park – one reason for choosing its location nearly 20 kilometres west of the capital’s centre. However, currently all cargo transport is handled by container trucks. John Guiry said the decision to build a spur line into Phnom Penh SEZ was a “no-brainer”. “The railway already runs just outside of the fence of the zone,” he explained. “All that needs to be developed is 30 metres of track.”
