Construction Woes Plague Railway Project

The rehabilitation of Cambodia’s dilapidated railway network has encountered delays due to poor construction work and inappropriate surveying methods when making plans to lay down tracks, according to a draft review of the ongoing $140 million project conducted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government earlier this month. A draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Ministry of Public Works and Transport and the ADB obtained yesterday states that poor construction work on between 6 and 12 km of the southern railway line had contributed to delays on the line of up to 335 days. It also states that initial surveying on where to lay down track on the 385-km northern line did not match where construction work would actually take place, meaning that further resettlements of families living in Poipet City could occur in the future. The information in the MOU appears to shed light on why Australian firm Toll Holdings, which has a 30-year concession to operate the railway network with the Cambodian conglomerate Royal Group, decided in March to suspend operations until the southern line has been completed. …