A 60-km section of the Phnom Penh-Poipet rail line that will link Cambodia with Thailand has been completed, Transportation Minister Sun Chanthol announced. The completed section links Poipet and Mongkol Borey, a district in Banteay Meanchey, south of provincial capital Sisophon. The section is now ready to be tested, with trial runs likely to happen before the Khmer New Year (14 April), according to the Cambodian Transportation minister. The Sisophon to Poipet segment was originally scheduled to be completed by mid-2016, but was pushed back several times due to legal hurdles, persistent rain and land disputes.
The next phases of the rail project will see the construction of Mongkol Borey to Battambang; Battambang to Pursat; and Pursat to Phnom Penh sections. “We expect the railroad connecting Pursat to Phnom Penh will be completed in June of this year,” Va Sim Sorya, director general at the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation, said, adding that much of the last segment of track would be renovated rather than replaced.
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