The railway transforms Laos ability to export goods across the continent (Image: Getty)
is developing a rail network throughout South Asia as it attempts to expand its famous
China’s Pan Asia Railway plan will revolutionise the economic opportunities of many of its small neighbours, providing an uplift in their ability to import and export as well as boosting their vital tourism industries.
The Belt and Road initiative, launched in 2013 by Chinese leader , has seen the country invest in infrastructure around the world including Asia, and .
Critics have labelled it as an attempt by the Chinese state to spread its influence over countries across the world, many of whom owe China large debts as a result.
One of the most recent developments of the BRI is the impressive China-Laos railway which has transformed access across the region for Laos, a small agricultural country to China’s south.
The railway is an impressive feat of construction with 87% of the track being on bridges and tunnels (Image: Getty)
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has struggled to keep pace economically with its richer neighbours who have transformed their fortunes in recent decades.
This has been in part due to the difficulty for the only landlocked South Asian country to export via the sea, but also due to the lack of infrastructure connecting it with its neighbours.
The £38 billion project was completed in 2021 after 11 years of construction which saw designers have to navigate complex terrain, forging a path through thick forests and hilly landscapes with 87 percent of the route being conducted on bridges and through tunnels.
Such is the complexity of the terrain, that one tunnel is a mammoth 8km in length.
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The line could transform Laos’ economy (Image: Getty)
The China-Laos section of the railway is 3,000km in length, making its way through China, and before passing through Laos en route to .
The jump-off point in Laos is the capital city of Vientiane, a city the size of with a population of roughly 754,000.
The city sits on the bank of the Mekong with its riverside awash with bars, restaurants and hotels perfect for backpackers and those looking to travel off of the beaten track.