Strong cooperation between the railway administration of Peninsular Malaysia (KTMB) and the State Railway Of Thailand (SRT) is expected to help promote good relations between the citizens of the two neighbouring countries.

The strong ties have also already brought about large economic gains, particularly in the transportation of export and import goods and commodities between the two countries, the Bernama news agency quoted  Malaysia's Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri as saying in a statement issued on June 22.

The decision to start the land-bridge service between the two countries 10 years ago had brought great success with the increased volume of cargo exported through the main ports of Malaysia, especially export goods and commodities from southern Thailand, he said.

The Deputy Minister also expressed the hope that work on the railway link from Singapore all the way to Kunming in southern China, passing through Malaysia and Thailand, would move faster as there was only one missing link left in Sisophon, Cambodia.

"The completion of the project will become an engine of strong partnership between not only the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) but also with China, which is the region's economic powerhouse," he said.

He also said that KTMB's double tracking project was a project of national interest which would make the country's passenger and goods railway services more efficient and able to offer higher capacities./.