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Coss
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  • 3 weeks later...
On 10/31/2022 at 7:15 AM, Coss said:

It appears there is a fast train and a slow train, and that as is typical in Laos, it's not been thought through...

 

After quizzing MLG on the train experience, they did a girl's trip to Luang Prabang, 6 girls.

In Vientiane there are two possible ways to get a ticket.

One office in the city, but only for tour groups, turn up wanting one or two tickets ? nope.

The other is the train station. You cannot get a ticket for today or tomorrow. It has to be more than two clear days in advance. There is a giant queue for the ticket office, you can pay someone $5 to wait in the queue for you.

Once you have the tickets, you have to provide ID -  Three times! -  to get on the train. Passport, Driver's licence, or House Book.

MLG and two of her friends are very angry. It seems that the Chinese are super cautious about scams and diversions of the ticket money or people sneaking on the train for free.

As MLG said, more difficult than getting on an International air flight.

It further seems, that the Chinese are treating the train line and some hundreds of metres, either side of it, all the way to China, as Chinese territory.

This will probably improve over time, yeah right...

 

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Links relating to Trains in Laos

https://north-vietnam.com/laos-railway-train-map/   - has online booking, but can't book online, usefully scheduling appears to be present- good for planning I guess.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Laos - wiki woo

https://laostravel.com/express-train-for-laos-china-railway/ - info

 

fast train

LCR-2NM.png

slow train,  note the uniforms waiting for your ID

LCR-NM.png

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

This looks like it's getting pretty big pretty fast...

CHINA-LAOS RAILWAY TRANSPORTS OVER 10 MLN PASSENGERS

KUNMING, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) — As of Tuesday, the China-Laos Railway had operated 20,000 passenger trains and handled 10.3 million passenger trips since its launch in December 2021, the railway operator said Wednesday.

The railway handled 8.7 million passenger trips for the China section, with daily passengers hitting 65,000. Meanwhile, 1.6 million passenger trips were logged in its Laos section, with the number of daily passengers reaching 8,800, said the China Railway Kunming Group Co., Ltd.

The number of stations in Laos that can handle passenger service has increased from seven in the initial period to ten.

“The passenger volume of the China-Laos railway has continued to grow, and its service quality has greatly improved. The railway plays a positive role in providing convenient and efficient travel for the people of the two countries,” said Zheng Bin, deputy stationmaster of Kunming Railway Station.

It is expected to launch cross-border passenger trains on the China-Laos railway this year to improve the passenger and cargo transport of the railway.

The China-Laos Railway connects Kunming in southwest China’s Yunnan Province with the Laotian capital Vientiane. The 1,035-km railway, a landmark project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, started operation on Dec. 3, 2021.

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/asean/2023/02/01/china-laos-railway-transports-over-10-mln-passengers/

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6 hours ago, Coss said:

It is expected to launch cross-border passenger trains on the China-Laos railway this year to improve the passenger and cargo transport of the railway.

So at present it is not the China-Laos Passenger Railway but the Chine Railway and the Laos Railway, and far from 10 Million passenger trips, the Laos section is 1.6 Million

its rather like having a headline Wales in 58 Point thriller with All Blacks” after the 2003 game, NZ won 55-3 

 

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It is not 8,800 per day, it peaked at 8,800 per day big difference

1.6 Million since December 2021 call it just 365 days is only 4,380 per day, at 8,800 per day it would be 3.2 Million passengers in a year, the Chinese figures also don’t add up 8.7 Million is an average of  23,800 per day.

You can bet you bottom dollar that the 8,800 was in the fist few days of operation when it was all new, shiny and had the novelty factor.

But hey, have reporters ever let facts get in the way of a good headline

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I'm sure khaosodenglish.com has people who would love to hear from you.

snail mail

Khaosod English. 40/10 S. Thetsaban Nimit Tai Road Prachaniwet 1, Chatuchak, Bangkok, Thailand 10900

email

contact@khaosodenglish.com

I reckon that the analogy of yours "its rather like having a headline Wales in 58 Point thriller with All Blacks” after the 2003 game, NZ won 55-3 " would be particularly enlightening.

🤪

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Nah! Had my little rant, just goes to show how the wording of articles can be used to manipulate people’s thinking, even MPIH, whom, all joking asides, I consider to be a reasonably educated chap, thought the article said 8,800 per day and not the actual 4.300, less than half of that.

As you are aware I do have a lot of time on my hands at present so picking up on things such as this keeps the old grey matter from turning to jelly, the NZ 55-3 Wales score is genuine 

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