Yunnan-Vietnam Railway
Encyclopedia
The Yunnan–Vietnam Railway is a 855 km railway built by France
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....

 during 1904-1910, connecting Haiphong
Haiphong
, also Haiphong, is the third most populous city in Vietnam. The name means, "coastal defence".-History:Hai Phong was originally founded by Lê Chân, the female general of a Vietnamese revolution against the Chinese led by the Trưng Sisters in the year 43 C.E.The area which is now known as Duong...

, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 with Kunming
Kunming
' is the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government...

, Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...

 province, China. The section within China from Kunming to Hekou
Hekou Yao Autonomous County
The Hekou Yao Autonomous County is an autonomous county in the southern part of the Yunnan province of China. It is part of the Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture and borders the northern Vietnamese town of Lao Cai.-Industrial Park:...

 is known as the Kunming-Hekou Railway, and is 466 km long. The section within Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 is 389 km long. The railway used gauge due to the mountainous terrain along the route. Currently it is the only main line in China using metre gauge
Metre gauge
Metre gauge refers to narrow gauge railways and tramways with a track gauge of . In some African, American and Asian countries it is the main gauge. In Europe it has been used for local railways in France, Germany, and Belgium, most of which were closed down in mid 20th century. Only in Switzerland...

, but may be converted
Gauge conversion
In rail transport, gauge conversion is the process of converting a railway from one rail gauge to another, through the alteration of the railway tracks...

 to standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

.

History

The railway was opened in 1910. There was a gauge branch line from Jijie to Gejiu which operated 0-10-0 tender locos built by Baldwin Locomotive Works
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...

. The metre gauge section was originally administered in more or less the same way as the Indochinese networks, and if not for a "missing link" through Cambodia
Rail transport in Cambodia
Cambodia has of metre gauge rail network, consisting of two lines originally constructed during the time when the country was part of French Indochina...

 (between Saigon and Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...

), it would have been physically possible for through trains to run from Kunming
Kunming
' is the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government...

 to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, as metre gauge was used in Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...

 as well.

Under pressure from Japan, France closed the line on 16 July 1940 to cut supplies to China during the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...

. During the Japanese occupation Japanese National Railways
Japanese National Railways
, abbreviated or "JNR", was the national railway network of Japan from 1949 to 1987.-History:The term Kokuyū Tetsudō "state-owned railway" originally referred to a network of railway lines operated by nationalized companies under the control of the Railway Institute following the nationalization...

 Class 9600 2-8-0 locomotives were shipped to aid their invasion, and after the completion of the "death railway
Death Railway
The Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, the Thailand–Burma Railway and similar names, was a railway between Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma , built by the Empire of Japan during World War II, to support its forces in the Burma campaign.Forced labour was used in its construction...

" it was possible for a time to send through traffic to Burma and hence to the Indian metre gauge network. This is now not possible, as sections of the railway were destroyed during the conflicts since World War II.

Present state

Twice-a-week cross-border passenger service (involving the passengers having to transfer from a Chinese train to a Vietnamese train at the border station) operated as late as 2000, but landslides caused frequent delays.
Eventually, the passenger service on the Chinese section of the railway was terminated, and this section is now used only for freight. Nonetheless, according to Chinese news agencies, some investment continues to be made to keep the railway running. For example, it was reported in 2004 that 100 million yuan (USD $12 million) was to be spent to buy 10 new diesel locomotives for the railway.
As of 2008, upgrade work was said to be continuing on the Chinese side.

On the Vietnamese side, passenger trains continue to run from Hanoi to the border town of Lao Cai
Lao Cai
Lào Cai is a city in northeastern Vietnam. It is the capital of Lao Cai province. The city borders the city of Hekou, in the Yunnan province of Southwest China. It lies at the junction of the Red River and the Nam Ti River approximately 160 miles northwest of Hanoi...

.

See also

  • History of rail transport in China
    History of rail transport in China
    The history of rail transport in China began with foreign assistance. Since then, it has made advances with domestic and foreign technology.-Qing Dynasty era:-Early efforts:...

  • Narrow gauge railways in China
    Narrow gauge railways in China
    The gauge for the most of the China national railway network is standard gauge. Currently, in the national railway network, only Kunming-Hekou Railway uses narrow gauge, and it is expected to be converted into standard gauge soon...

  • Yunnan-Burma Railway
    Yunnan-Burma Railway
    The Yunnan–Burma Railway was a failed British project to connect far south-west China's Yunnan province with the recently established rail network in British occupied Burma.-History and Politics:...

  • China Railways DFH21, (aka DF10H), main motive power on the railway in the latter quarter of the 20th Century
  • Guangzhouwan

External links

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