BANGKOK: The long-cherished dream of a seamless journey from Singapore to China by train will come one step closer to reality today.

Ministers from six Mekong countries - Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam - will sign a 'strategic framework' to link their national railway systems.

They will endorse the plan at the 16th meeting of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) in Hanoi today.

The task of integrating the railway systems in a region that is home to more than 300 million people clustered around the Mekong will be mammoth, complex and expensive. Costs are expected to run up to US$25 billion (S$34 billion) over the next 20 years.

'There is huge diversity in terms of development and the condition of railways in various countries,' said Mr Peter Broch, a senior transport economist with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), via telephone from Hanoi.

Laos, for instance, does not have a railway system. All the other GMS countries are currently upgrading their national systems. One of them is Cambodia, which privatised its railways last year.

Much more needs to be done, however. 'First we have to agree on a common interface, on how to ensure that trains crossing borders are properly managed,' said Mr Broch. 'Then we have to decide where to actually make the physical interconnections.'

At present, one can travel by train from Singapore to only as far as northern Thailand without interruption.

The ADB has proposed four possible routes east and north of Thailand, but all will require the laying of several hundred kilometres of track where there is none now. Some new routes are under construction, but some are still just plans or proposals.

China is looking at high-speed trains - and is financing a feasibility study for a track connecting Phnom Penh to the Vietnam border.

Separately, it is investing US$11.8 billion to expand capacity on the Nanning-Kunming route, and other routes to the Vietnam and Myanmar borders.

The 33-page strategic framework, commissioned by the ADB and released this month, notes that while all the countries in the region are for the integration, 'GMS railways are burdened with outdated legislation, operating rules and procedures; they have too many employees; have limited flexibility to set tariffs and fares; and have limited freedom to manage and develop assets'.

Bureaucracy, border procedures and rules, and insurance issues, are a major part of the interface problem.

Also, while railways in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar are narrow gauge, China's system is standard gauge.

But Mr Broch said there was room for optimism, as the ADB's return-on-investment projections are quite favourable. /p>

The market is big - and growing.

Mr Kunio Senga, director-general of the ADB's South-east Asia department, has noted that economic growth indicators for the region are robust.

The strategic framework forecasts that, by 2025, 3.2 million passengers and 23 million tonnes of freight will use such an integrated system.

But mobilising private sector resources for the ambitious programme will be critical to its success.

The plan is seen as a spark for the GMS as well as Asean to develop economic 'corridors' around railway stations, ports and road links.

'The GMS railway network needs efficient interconnections with other modes, especially roads and inland waterways, for maximum connectivity,' the railway plan says.

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Source - http://www.straitstimes.com/Asia/South-eastAsia/Story/STIStory_568569.html