Vientiane railway station (, ) is a railway station in
Vientiane
Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and largest city of Laos. Vientiane is divided administratively into 9 cities with a total area of only approx. 3,920 square kilometres and is located on the banks of ...
,
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
. It is the second station on the
Boten–Vientiane railway
The Boten–Vientiane railway is the Lao section of the Lao–China Railway (LCR), running between the capital Vientiane and the northern town of Boten on the border with Yunnan, China. The line was officially opened on 3 December 2021.
A coll ...
. The largest and most important station on the line,
the station was opened along with the rest of the line on 3 December 2021.
Design
Located 14 km north of central Vientiane, the station building sits on of land and has three platforms and five tracks as well as a station hall that can accommodate 2,500 passengers.
The station's theme is the City of
Sandalwood
Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for us ...
, reflecting the original meaning of "Vientiane". The building is based on traditional
Chinese architecture
Chinese architecture (Chinese:中國建築) is the embodiment of an architectural style that has developed over millennia in China and it has influenced architecture throughout Eastern Asia. Since its emergence during the early ancient era, the ...
combined with Laotian environmental characteristics. The facade features eight tree-branch-shaped eaves, meant to evoke a tropical rainforest.
Services
As of April 2023, the station has four services per day: two via
Luang Prabang
Luang Phabang, ( Lao: ຫລວງພະບາງ/ ຫຼວງພະບາງ) or ''Louangphabang'' (pronounced ), commonly transliterated into Western languages from the pre-1975 Lao spelling ຫຼວງພຣະບາງ (ຣ = silent r) ...
to
Boten
Boten is a town in Laos in Luang Namtha Province. Boten is on the China–Laos border. It is opposite the Chinese town Mohan. While Boten is part of Laos, most of its inhabitants speak Mandarin Chinese as their native language. The main curren ...
at the Chinese border, one to Luang Prabang only and one to
Kunming South.
Future expansion
All tracks at the station are
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
, so the station does not serve the existing narrow-gauge
railway from Thailand to Laos, which terminates at
Thanaleng railway station
Thanaleng station, also known as Dongphosy station (''Ban Dong Phosy'' in Lao), is a railway station in Dongphosy village, Hadxayfong District, Vientiane Prefecture, Laos. It is east of the Lao capital city of Vientiane and north of the Lao-Tha ...
, some 15 km to the south. The standard gauge
Bangkok–Nong Khai high-speed railway
The Bangkok–Nong Khai high-speed railway or Northeastern high-speed rail line is a high-speed railway under construction in Thailand. It is the first high-speed line in Thailand. Its first phase, between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima, is could ...
, scheduled for completion in 2028, may eventually extend to Vientiane station, completing the
Kunming–Singapore railway
The Kunming–Singapore railway, increasingly called the Pan-Asia railway Network is a network of railways that connects China, Singapore and all the countries of mainland Southeast Asia. The concept originated with the British and French co ...
.
In 2022, the ''
Vientiane Times
The ''Vientiane Times'' is a bilingual English and Lao newspaper, published daily in Vientiane, Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະ ...
'' announced that Laos intends to build a
new standard-gauge railway from Vientiane to the port of
Vung Ang in central
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
.
[{{Cite web, url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Transportation/Laos-logistics-vision-for-ASEAN-All-rails-lead-to-Vientiane, title=Laos' logistics vision for ASEAN: All rails lead to Vientiane, website=Nikkei Asia]
Gallery
Laos-China-Railway_Station_in_Vientiane.jpg, Inside Vientiane railway station
References
Railway stations in Laos
Railway stations opened in 2021