Luang Prabang Station is one of the latest stations to open on the new high-speed railway line in Laos People have high hopes for the positive impact of the new high-speed railway line built by China that passes through inland Laos from north to south. At the same time, all stations along the capital’s Vientiane Main Station and the UNESCO World Heritage City of Luang Prabang have been opened, and the overall opening ceremony of the railway is scheduled to be held on December 2. Laos will enter a new era of railway transportation,…
People have high hopes for the positive impact of the new high-speed railway line built by China that passes through inland Laos from north to south. At the same time, all the stations along the route of the capital Vientiane Main Station and the UNESCO World Heritage City of Luang Prabang have been opened, and the overall opening ceremony of the railway is scheduled to be held on December 2.
Officials said that with the opening of the railway, Laos will enter a new era of railway transportation, and the people and tourists will benefit from greatly improved travel methods. The passenger train has a maximum operating speed of 160 km/h and provides 8 carriages, including 1 dining car, 1 first-class carriage and 6 second-class carriages, with a total of 720 seats.
The time from Vientiane to the Chinese border will be shortened from two days by road to three hours by train, and it will only take one night to reach Kunming, China, which means that the connectivity between China and Laos is greatly improved.
Hope for new opportunities
In particular, provinces along the route and popular destinations are optimistic about the positive impact of the new railway on domestic commerce and tourism, namely Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng, as well as Oudomxay and Luang Namtha provinces in the north. They hope that trade and New opportunities for travel.
Provincial authorities have stated that they will resume the development of tourism that has had to be shelved due to the Covid-19 pandemic in recent years. In Oudomxay alone, there are plans for 11 tourism development projects, including homestays, restaurants and rural tourism, while Luang Nam Pagoda is seeking to attract tourists through cultural and ethnic tourism programs.
In addition to Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang being the main tourist hotspots of Laos, Vientiane, as the Covid-19 crisis subsides, the country is gradually reopening to international tourists. It is expected that the tourism industry will return to normal and they will increase the availability of hotels and homestays. capacity.
