Railway ushers in passenger surges, operates 9,000 int’l freight trains

Since September 2023, the monthly numbers of passengers handled by China-Laos Railway have increased from 1 million to 2.222 million, hitting record highs in the past six months, said China Railway Kunming Group on March 18.

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A passenger train runs on China-Laos Railway.

The number of passengers this year has exceeded 5 million. During Spring Festival travel rush, China-Laos Railway has seen a daily passengers of over 100,000 for 4 days from February 14 to 17, and some 25,000 took the international passenger trains on the railway.

On March 10, the D87/D88 international passenger trains from Kunming to Vientiane began to stop at Yuxi Station in Yunnan and Muang Xay Station in Oudomxay province, but the one-way trip still lasts for 9 hours and 26 minutes thanks to departmental coordination.

The international passenger train service on China-Laos Railway was launched on April 13, 2023. Up to now, it has benefited 145,000 passengers from more than 80 countries and regions.

A passenger train reaches the Muang Xay Station on China-Laos Railway.

As for international freight, the railway has operated more than 9,000 trains, transporting 7.95 million tons of goods among the neighboring countries. This year has seen the railway handle 1.15 million tons of cross-border goods as of March 19, a year-on-year growth of 33.7%.

Among international freight trains, 984 belong to the Lancang-Mekong express trains. By connecting with the China-Europe freight trains and the Kunming-Shanghai trains, the express trains on China-Laos Railway helped to transport the Lao and Thai goods to European countries in 15 days.

The Yuxi Station on China-Laos Railway

The international freight trains have further linked the 12 BRI countries, including Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and others, to the Chinese major cities, reducing regional logistics cost by more than 900 million yuan.

The railway also made the industrial and supply chains among China, ASEAN and the EU complement each other, allowing Yunnan province to better access the the Indian Ocean rim.