China-Laos passenger railway journey shorten

Travelers between China and Laos will see their train journey time shortened by one hour starting from Tuesday, thanks to improved customs inspection efficiency.

The China-Laos Railway is a landmark project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. It started operation on Dec 3, 2021, but with the Chinese section and Lao section running separately for passenger services.

To improve the passenger experience, the China Railway Kunming Group Co.,Ltd, together with customs and border inspection authorities, has endeavored to improve and optimize the customs inspection process, helping to shorten the customs clearance time at each port from the previous 1.5 hours to 1 hour, reducing the whole journey time from Kunming in China to Vientiane in Laos to nine and a half hours from ten and a half hours.

Now the China-Laos Railway has provided cross-border passenger services for more than 100 days, and a total of 42,000 passengers from 49 countries and regions have chosen to take the train for cross-border travel.