http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/31/...EAN_Railway.php

Malaysia donates rail tracks to Cambodia for China-Singapore link

The Associated Press

Published: October 30, 2006


KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia Malaysia is donating used rail tracks worth more than US$2 million to Cambodia as part of regional efforts to build a railway linking Singapore to southern China.

Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy waved off the first shipment of the tracks during a ceremony at a northern Malaysian rail station late Monday, saying it would be sent to northwestern Cambodia to help fill in 48 kilometers (30 miles) of missing rails.

The donation is meant to speed up the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations' plans to build a regional railway line, which Chan said would be "a safe, efficient and most economical mode of cross-border cargo transportation," the national news agency Bernama reported.

A transport ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to make public statements, confirmed details of the 7.5 million ringgit (US$2.1 million; €1.7 million) track donation.

ASEAN officials have said the proposed project, spanning some 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) from Singapore to the Chinese city of Kunming, has been hindered by a lack of funds and other technical issues in connecting the rail to major towns across the region.

The project, including constructing railway stations and related infrastructure, has been estimated to cost US$15 billion (€12.5 billion).

ASEAN hopes the link will be ready by 2015. But it has not set a formal target date for the project's completion, which is expected to better bind the economies of the region and provide China with easier access to ASEAN markets.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia Malaysia is donating used rail tracks worth more than US$2 million to Cambodia as part of regional efforts to build a railway linking Singapore to southern China.

Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy waved off the first shipment of the tracks during a ceremony at a northern Malaysian rail station late Monday, saying it would be sent to northwestern Cambodia to help fill in 48 kilometers (30 miles) of missing rails.

The donation is meant to speed up the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations' plans to build a regional railway line, which Chan said would be "a safe, efficient and most economical mode of cross-border cargo transportation," the national news agency Bernama reported.

A transport ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to make public statements, confirmed details of the 7.5 million ringgit (US$2.1 million; €1.7 million) track donation.

ASEAN officials have said the proposed project, spanning some 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) from Singapore to the Chinese city of Kunming, has been hindered by a lack of funds and other technical issues in connecting the rail to major towns across the region.

The project, including constructing railway stations and related infrastructure, has been estimated to cost US$15 billion (€12.5 billion).

ASEAN hopes the link will be ready by 2015. But it has not set a formal target date for the project's completion, which is expected to better bind the economies of the region and provide China with easier access to ASEAN markets.