Rail Operator Restarts Train Services to Kampot

23 August 2012
The Cambodia Daily
Aid and development / Australian aid / Bilateral development assistance / Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members / Infrastructure / Rail / Transport infrastructure and facilities
Cambodia’s railway rehabilitation project / rail operator / railway network / railway renovation / railway renovation project / Royal Group / Toll Holdings / Toll Royal Railways (TRR) / train services / TRR's resumption

Toll Royal Railways (TRR), the current operator of Cambodia's dilapidated rail network, restarted freight services to Kampot province yesterday, four months after it suspended its work. TRR's resumption comes on the heals of a rival proposal to manage the train network by a consortium that includes one of China's largest state-owned companies. Although TRR-a joint venture between Australia's Toll Holdings and Cambodia's Royal Group-halted train services in March, the firm yesterday appeared keen to show it is steaming forward with its work, which has fallen far behind schedule due to poor engineering work on renovated tracks and a lack of funds as rehabilitation had gone way over budget. ... Asked if the decision to restart their train came in response to the new offer from the China-backed consortium, David Kerr, the recently reinstated CEO of TRR, said it was completely unrelated. ... Shares of Toll Group, which are traded on the Australian Securities Exchange, have dropped 23.72 percent since May 15, closing at AU$4.50, or about $4.70, at the end of trading yesterday.