Illustrative photo (Source: khmertimeskh.com) Bangkok (VNA) – Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and hisCambodian counterpart Samdech Techo Hun Sen co-presided over the inaugurationof a friendship bridge and the reopening of railway lines connecting Aranyaprathetdistrict in Thailand's eastern Sa Kaeo province and Poipet city in Cambodia'sBanteay Meanchey province.
At the ceremony, the two PMs witnessed the signing of a bilateralagreement on cross-border train service and the handover of a diesel-enginelocomotive with four passenger carriages to Cambodia.
TheThai-Cambodian train service was first opened in 1942 and terminated in 1974.In 2015, the Thai and Cambodian governments signed a memorandum ofunderstanding on the return of the cross-border train service for which a jointworking committee was set up.
Cambodia has two lines of railroads - a 386-km northern line runningfrom Phnom Penh to Poipet town, and a 266-km southern line linking Phnom Penh withthe coastal province of Preah Sihanouk.
The two lines, which had been built between 1929 and 1969, were damagedduring decades of civil war.
The passenger train service between Phnom Penh and Preah Sihanoukprovince was re-launched in 2016, while the building and restoration of therailroad between Phnom Penh and Poipet town were finished in July last year.
Before the cross-border train reopening ceremony, the two leaders alsoinaugurated a 620-meter Cambodia-Thailand Friendship Bridge, linking Stung Botin Poipet and Ban Nong Ian in Aranyaprathet.
According to Thailand’s Department of Foreign Trade, cross-border tradebetween the two nations reached 145 billion baht in 2018, 62 percent of which camefrom transactions through the Aranyaprathet-Poipet border.-VNA
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