Southeast Asia could look very different in the longer term if proposals for brand spanking new railway lines develop into a reality. Many recent railway lines have been proposed in Southeast Asia through the years, but few have been realized.
James Clark, a travel author based in Vietnam and runs a tremendous travel blog Nomads’ noteshe produced a incredible map showing all the present and proposed railways in mainland and maritime Southeast Asia.
It accommodates years of newspaper articles reporting on railway lines which are under construction or about to be built, with a subway-style map showing these lines.
“A map shows how to get from point A to B, not precise geographic accuracy,” Clark wrote in his publication. But the style gives you an idea of necessary intersections like Bangkok!
By drawing the map, Clark sees a vision for transport within the region as a crossroads between Europe’s international InterCity services and China’s high-speed rail network. “With a single ASEAN visa, an InterCity train could travel from Bangkok to Phnom Penh in four hours, and a high-speed train in less than three hours.”
Here are a number of the featured proposed railway lines:
Trans-Sumatra
The planned transsumatera railway was to cover over 2,000 km from Banda Aceh within the north to Bandar Lampung within the south.
Mindanao, Philippines
The Philippines has a piecemeal line serving southern Luzon, but rail lines to Luzon and Mindanao have been continually promised for years.
Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High Speed Railway
Today, each countries committed to starting construction in 2017. The two capitals are roughly 350 km apart, and the route is an ideal pair of cities. The Speed Rail link is anticipated to scale back travel times between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in only one 12 months 90 minutes
Bang Sue Grand Central Station
One of the key infrastructure projects currently under construction is Bang Sue Grand Central Station with 24 proposed platforms. This could easily develop into the biggest train station in Southeast Asia (and considered one of the biggest on the earth by way of variety of platforms).
Which railway is essentially the most exciting for you?
