English
Cambodia’s railway revival continues
IT’s a Saturday morning on a holiday weekend in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, and the Royal Railway station is buzzing with activity. The two passenger trains that depart every day are ready, their loud horns announcing to the locals saying goodbye to loved ones, and tourists posing for photos on the platform, that the train is ready to depart.
The first train leaves at 06.40, heading north on the 388km metre-gauge line to Battambang in the northwest of the country. It has an estimated journey time of 6h 20min and is scheduled to return at 15.00, arriving at 22.30. The second train departs the capital 20 minutes later, heading 266km south to Sihanoukville, where it is due to arrive at 12.40.
After slowly snaking through the Phnom Penh suburbs at around 25km/h, the southbound train soon reaches its maximum speed of 55km/h. However, with the train forced to wait in passing loops for northbound freight trains to clear the line ahead, by the time it reaches Kampot, where IRJ disembarks two hours from the train’s final destination, it is running 1h 40min behind schedule. Many of the other passengers also leave the train here. They are replaced by others, perhaps a little frustrated, but not necessarily surprised, at the late running. The train was scheduled to return at 14.00, arriving at 20.00.
“We had about 1000 passengers on Saturday for the holiday,” says Mr John Guiry, Royal Railway’s CEO, a career railwayman from Victoria, Australia, who has been in Cambodia since 2010. Royal Railway reintroduced a daily service in February 2022 following a Covid-induced suspension and Guiry says it is carrying 200-300 passengers on a typical weekday. The operator ran Friday – Monday pre-pandemic, and according to Guiry, the increase has grown revenue from the passenger business from $20,000 a month to around $100,000 now.
Onboard the coach, which seems freshly painted and was built by Waggonfabrik Uerdingen, Germany, in 1969, there are rows of two-by-two bench seats that face one another and are packed with passengers: families and groups of young people, with the odd western backpacker mixed in. Many of them are using the train for the first time and while they say they are not sure if they will do so again, it is a much safer experience than the busy road that runs south from the capital.
Passengers can also enjoy views of rice paddies, farms and small villages, as well as the odd hill in the distance. The intermittent air-conditioning meant it was a little uncomfortable in the 30°C heat – there were cheers when some passengers forced their window open – but it was an enjoyable experience, a definite throwback, and for just $9 for a single ticket, something of a bargain.
When IRJ returns to Phnom Penh station a couple of days later, the scene is very different. That day’s passenger trains have already departed, with just a few coaches left on the platform for use on the busiest days and a few tank wagons of diesel fuel lying idle in the middle of the station, ready to refuel locomotives the next day. The coffee shop is deserted, with only the odd vendor selling tickets and confectionary left behind.
Across the screens is a mosaic of live CCTV footage from key points across the railway network: level crossings, sidings, freight terminals, maintenance workshops, and the operations control centre are all shown. The screens are Guiry’s eyes across the network. He can quickly zoom in on any one view from anywhere in the country to fill an entire screen. He can also access the footage as well as a live GPS locator of the railway’s rolling stock on his smartphone, so he can keep tabs on developments wherever he is. On the day of IRJ’s visit he zooms in on a particular siding where several tank wagons are awaiting the arrival of a freight train later that day. He says such insight is proving critical to managing Royal Railway’s growing business and the team of mostly young people that runs it.
Guiry says the TV screens that would form part of this sophisticated information centre were found in one of the railway’s warehouses. “The guys looked at what we might be able to do with them and this is the result,” he says.
This a story typical of a railway running on limited resources and striving to make the best of the opportunities that present themselves. It has made notable progress in more recent years following a period of upheaval and false starts. Railjournal.com