Construction of the Trans-Asia Railway, envisaged as one of the world's great infrastructure projects, has been hit by a series of cost hurdles in Cambodia, and the project will require additional funding, a confidential feasibility study has suggested.
A single unfinished, unfunded stretch of 255 kilometres, from Phnom Penh to the Vietnamese border, stands in the way of the dream of an integrated rail network stretching 14,000 kilometres from Singapore to Istanbul - and then beyond, all the way to London. It is a vision that spans five decades, some 20 nations and a total of 80,900 kilometres of track.
Crucially for Beijing, it would provide an unbroken rail link from the ports of Singapore to China, via Kunming . But sources close to the Cambodian government said that the relatively high cost of the final stretch, which spans several sections of the Mekong River, meant that Cambodia would be unable to complete the project on its own.
Although China would be one of the main economic beneficiaries of the completion of the project, it might be unwilling to cover the shortfall on its own. That leaves the Asian Development Bank and World Bank as possible sources of funding.
The confidential report by consultants the China Railway Group - the so-called Preliminary Technical Study Report - estimates it will cost US$262 million for a 1,000 metre bridge over the Mekong River and a 1,500 metre bridge over the Tonle Sap River.
If funding can be secured - and resident resettlement and border issues resolved quickly - then Cambodian authorities want construction of the final link to start within the next 18 months.
