The Singapore-Kunming Rail Link
(SKRL)
Runckel & Associates has followed news on the
progress of The Singapore-Kunming Rail Link (SKRL) which was
was first proposed by Asean in 1995. The SKRL is a
flagship project of the ASEAN-Mekong Basin Development Cooperation
(AMBDC). This regional railway line, spanning some
5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) from Singapore to the Chinese city
of Kunming, would be a very efficient and most economical mode
of cross-border cargo transportation. However, the
project has been hindered by a lack of funds and other technical
issues in connecting the rail to major towns across the
region. The project also includes constructing railway
stations and related infrastructure, and has been estimated to cost
US$15 billion (€12.5 billion). ASEAN hopes the link will
be ready by 2015.
Recent Progress in
Cambodia:
The Strait Times of Singapore reported in early 2008 that Cambodia
received US$80m funding for its Thailand rail link. Cambodia
will build a rail link to Thailand after it received these funds
from the Asian Development Bank and the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries, according to Cambodia's transport
minister. Work on the 48km connection between Sisophan
in Cambodia and Poipet near the Thai border will be completed by
2010.
Besides the progress in funding of the Cambodia link, Malaysia also
donated used rail tracks worth more than US$2 million to
Cambodia for a China-Singapore link as part of regional
efforts to build a railway linking Singapore to southern China,
reported late last year by the Associate Press. This
would also help fill in 48 kilometers (30 miles) of missing rails
there.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations's Fact Sheet - Sept,
2007 reveals the SKRL feasibility study examining six
alternative routes to link Singapore to Kunming, China, which all
six routes have a common sector from Singapore to Bangkok via Kuala
Lumpur.
Route 1: which connects Cambodia, Lao PDR, Viet
Nam and China, was selected by the ASEAN Transport Ministers for
its high social and economic impact. It will cost an estimated
US$1.8 billion to construct. Its 5,382 km length includes the
missing links from Poipet to Sisophon, and from Phnom Penh to Loc
Ninh and Ho Chi Minh City, as well as the spur lines from Ho Chi
Minh City to Vung Tau and from Vientiane to Vung Anh.
Routes 2 to 6 will be considered for implementation in national
rail plans or other railway network projects, such as
the Trans-Asian
Railway.
Developments of
SKRL: