Aerial photo shows a Fuxing bullet train running through Nanxihe grand bridge on the China-Laos Railway in southwest China's Yunnan Province, June 2, 2022.  Photo:Xinhua

China Railway said on Friday that it has built a track change station at the Vientiane south station along the China-Laos Railway, a move expected to attract more than 300,000 tons of agricultural products and rubber from Thailand to China each year, and further improve the efficiency of international transport between China and ASEAN members.

The reloading of the first batch of cross-border container cargo was completed between standard gauge and meter gauge, and then transported to Laem Chabang Port in Thailand, China Railway said.

A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of 1,435 millimeters, which is adopted by the China-Laos Railway, but Thai Railway uses a track gauge of 1,000 millimeters, otherwise known as meter-gauge, and cargo needs to be unloaded from a vehicle of one gauge to another.

China Railway said the track change station has one standard-gauge line and two meter-gauge lines, and the station can help 25 meter-gauge railway vehicles from Thailand load at one time, with annual loading capacity of about 800,000 tons.

China Railway said the completion of the track station could connect the railways of China-Laos and Thailand, serving more distance for both countries.

The track station will further enhance the China-Laos Railway, improve the efficiency of international transportation between China and ASEAN members, and reduce cross-border logistics costs, China Railway noted.

For example, transport  time from Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province to Laem Chabang Port in Thailand will be shortened by about one day compared to the previous method of moving goods from train to trucks and transport by road, and the transportation cost will be reduced by more than 20 percent. 

China-Laos Railway has transported four million passenger trips and 4.94 million tons of cargo as of Thursday since the operation started in December last year.

Opening to traffic on December 3, 2021, the China-Laos Railway runs over 1,000 kilometers and links Kunming with Vientiane. As a landmark project of high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, it is the first overseas railway jointly constructed and operated by the two countries.