Chugging along- The rehabilitation of the Kingdom’s railways is essential to boosting regional economic ties, but the mammoth project needs to pick up speed
A glance around Battambang’s dilapidated train station reveals the monumental task it will be to complete the Cambodian segment of the ‘iron silk road’, which will connect Southeast Asia to Europe by rail for the first time. Cows graze between missing rails in front of the station building, whose clock eternally shows 8:02. The last train was seen about five years ago, which is just as well for the locals growing their vegetables between the tracks. Looking further down country, the last train to traverse the southern line took 28 days to cover 256km thanks to a string of derailments and other problems. …
