Two ships carrying rail tracks from Japan to use in Yangon-Mandalay railroad are docked at Sule port and the rail tracks are carried to Ywarthagyi dry port which will use in Yangon-Taungoo railroad, according to Myanma Railways (MR).
Istoyra general cargo ship and Cosmic Tiger general cargo ship arrived at Sule port on August 10 and 11 respectively.
The Istoyra and Cosmic Tiger carried 2,874 tons of rail tracks each.
“It is for the third time to carry rail tracks. The rail track used previously in Yangon-Mandalay railroad is weighted 75 lb and now the rail track is weighted 111 lb. It can make to speed up the train. We are running with 40 mph (about 64 kilometer per hour) in Yangon-Mandalay railroad and it is expected to run 100 or 120 kilometer per hour after the upgrading process is finished,” Kyaw Lwin, assistant manager of civil engineering department of the No.7 Division for the MR.
Ground works are started in Yangon-Taungoo railroad and circular railroad.
The MR is running six express trains, two railway post office cars and four passenger trains in Yangon-Mandalay railroad. The trains can run to up to 100 kilometers per hour if the upgrading process is finished. The trains will be run with air-conditioned carriages.
The phase 1 of Yangon-Mandalay railroad, which will be 166 miles in length between Yangon and Taungoo, will be finished in 2023 and phase 2 of Yangon-Mandalay railroad, which will be 219 miles in length between Taungoo and Mandalay, will start in 2020 and finish in 2024.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will loan US$2.7 billion for the upgrading project and it will be a five-year period project from 2019 to 2024.
