According to the newspaper, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his Cambodian counterpart, Hun Sen, attended the opening ceremony near the countries' shared border and took the first train from Thailand's Aranyaprathet to Cambodia's Poipet. The restored railroad section is 30 miles long.
"The restoration of the rail link brings a new opportunity for railway services that will help contribute to the economic development of the two countries and also contribute to Asean integration and the development of Greater Mekong sub-region," the Cambodian prime minister said as quoted by the media outlet.
A historic day for Cambodia and Thailand! The Prime Ministers of the two countries Hun Sen and Prayut Chan-o-cha have celebrated the linking of the two rail networks riding the train together across the border from Aranyaprathet to Poipet station 📢 https://t.co/U6Kwmi7P1Y pic.twitter.com/f9hh88CYif
— Baolau (@baolau) April 22, 2019
The Thai prime minister, for his part, also noted the importance of resuming railroad traffic between the two countries.
The railroad connecting Phnom Penh and Poipet in the border with Thailand was completed last year, and a trial passenger service started operations in August. The "Western Line" stretches over 386 kilometres and today it will be connected to Thailand's Aranyaprathet district. pic.twitter.com/H6Ucra5Xi6
— Baolau (@baolau) April 22, 2019
In 2018, Cambodia reopened the final stretch of a 230-mile-long railroad running from its capital, Phnom Penh, to the Thai border.
