PHNOM PENH, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's passenger train services ran on trial Wednesday on the 385-km track between Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, and Poipet city on the border with Thailand after a 45-year hiatus, Minister of Public Works and Transport Sun Chanthol said.
"It's another historic day for our nation," he said during the launching of passenger train services on the last 166-km section of the rail line from Pursat province to Phnom Penh. "From now on, passengers can travel from Phnom Penh to Poipet city by train for the first time in 45 years."
He said in the near future, passengers will be able to travel by train from Poipet city to Thailand and from Thailand to Singapore.
Chanthol said Thai Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith will visit Cambodia and hold talks with him to finalize the negotiations on the rail transport agreement between Cambodia and Thailand.
"When the agreement is signed, we can travel and transport goods from Phnom Penh to Bangkok and Singapore," he said.
According to the minister, this rail line would play a key role in facilitating trade and the movement of people between Cambodia and Thailand, and train fares are much cheaper than those of buses.
He said the train's average speed is 40 km per hour.
Cambodia has two lines of railroads. The 385-km northern line runs from Phnom Penh to Poipet city in Banteay Meanchey province, and the 266-km southern line connects Phnom Penh to the coastal province of Preah Sihanouk.
The two lines, which had been built between 1929 and 1969, were damaged during decades of civil war.
In 2016, the passenger train services between Phnom Penh and Preah Sihanouk province resumed after a 14-year suspension due to poor railway conditions.
