The Kunming–Singapore railway, also referred to as the Pan-Asian Railway, 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 colonial empires, which sought to link the railways they had built in southwest China, Indochina and Malaya, but international conflicts in the 20th century kept regional railways fragmented. The idea was formally revived in October 2006 when 18 Asian and Eurasian countries signed the Trans-Asian Railway Network Agreement, which incorporated the Kunming–Singapore railway into the Trans-Asian Railway network.
The network consists of three main routes from Kunming, China to Bangkok, Thailand: the Eastern route via Vietnam and Cambodia; the Central route via Laos, and the Western route via Myanmar. The southern half of the network from Bangkok to Singapore has been operational since 1918. The Central route opened on 3 December 2021, with the opening of the Yuxi–Mohan railway and Boten–Vientiane railway linking with the other operational segments of the route, which formally connected Kunming and Singapore directly by rail. There have been plans for high-speed railway constructions, though only one line (between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima) has since entered the construction phase.
The railway network is expected to increase regional economic integration and increase China's economic ties with Southeast Asia.
History
Colonial railways The British and French Empires first proposed building a railway from Kunming to Singapore in 1900 as Russia was completing the Trans-Siberian Railway. From 1904 to 1910, the French built the Yunnan–Vietnam railway, to connect Kunming with Hanoi and Haiphong in French Tonkin, now northern Vietnam.
In 1918, the southern line of the Thailand railway system was connected with British Malaya's west coast line, completing a metre gauge rail link from Bangkok to Singapore. In the late-1930s, the British began to build the Yunnan–Burma railway but abandoned the effort in 1941 with the outbreak of World War II.
In 1936, Vietnam's main railway, from Hanoi to Saigon was completed. This French-built system was (and still is) metre-gauge.
In 1942, the railways of Thailand and Cambodia were connected linking Bangkok and Phnom Penh, but this trans-border connection has long since fallen into disuse. The Japanese Empire built the infamous Thailand–Burma railway using prisoners of war to connect Bangkok and Yangon, but the entire line never entered commercial operation and is now partially submerged by the reservoir behind the Vajiralongkorn Dam.
A continuous metre-gauge rail line from Kunming to Singapore via Hanoi, Saigon, Phnom Penh, Bangkok, and Kuala Lumpur was not realized as the French never built the "missing link" between Phnom Penh and Saigon, choosing to build a highway instead.
21st century revival In 2000, ASEAN proposed completing the Kunming to Singapore railway, via Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Phnom Penh, and Bangkok. This route is now known as the eastern route. In 2004, ASEAN and China proposed the shorter western route, which instead of running east through Vietnam and Cambodia, would go west from Kunming to Myanmar and then to Bangkok. In 2007 ASEAN and China proposed building three routes, the Eastern, Western and a central route via Laos.
As of 2024, there has been solid progress in building the railway.
Overview Note that a grouped column before multiple lines denote lines that span the same origin and destination, but run along different speed or gauge. + Eastern route - 60 km/h - 3,300 kmCountryCorridor / Line DescriptionDesignedSpeed(km/h)Length(km)GaugeOpen DateKunming–HanoiKunming–Yuxi–Hekou RailwayKunming to Yuxi upgraded in 2016. Connects the border town of Hekou with its Vietnamese counterpart at Lào Cai. 200 (Kunming to Yuxi) 140 (Yuxi to Hekou)388Standard2014Kunming–Hekou RailwayChinese section of the Kunming–Haiphong railway60466Metre1902High Speed RailwayA proposed Vietnamese high-speed line to connect Hanoi to Kunming via the Kunming–Yuxi–Hekou RailwayUnknownUnknownStandardUnknownLào Cai–Hanoi RailwayColonial-era metre-gauge railway running between Hanoi and the China-Vietnam border at Lào Cai; part of the Kunming–Haiphong railway~60296Metre1902Hanoi–Ho Chi Minh CityNorth–South Railway Vietnam's north–south railway and main railway backbone~601726Metre1936North-South Express RailwayA proposed high-speed line for the north–south railway3501570Standard2035 Ho Chi Minh City–Phnom Penh Ho Chi Minh City–Phnom Penh RailwayProposed railway section connecting Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom PenhUnknown~250UnknownUnknown Phnom Penh–Poipet Phnom Penh–Poipet RailwayRebuilt railway connecting Phnom Penh with the Cambodia-Thailand border town of Poipet~90~386Metre2018 Ban Klong Luk–Bangkok Eastern LineThailand's Eastern railway line~100261Metre1907
+ Central route - 100 km/h - 1,660 kmCountryCorridor / Line DescriptionDesignedSpeed(km/h)Length(km)GaugeOpen DateKunming–YuxiPart of the Kunming–Yuxi–Hekou main railway upgraded in 2016200106Standard1993Yuxi–MohanLine connecting Yuxi with the China-Laos border at Mohan160507Standard2021Boten–VientianeFirst railway line in Laos spanning the country, between the Chinese border at Boten to the capital Vientiane near the Thai border160422Standard2021Vientiane–Nong KhaiVientiane–Nong KhaiFirst international railway line to Laos, across First Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge to Thanaleng, Vientiane Prefecture. The 9-km extension to Khamsavath station opened in 2023.~10014Metre2009Northeastern high-speed rail lineA new high-speed standard-gauge line (Phase 3) (including a new Mekong bridge which is 50 meters from the current one) 25016StandardUnknownNong Khai–BangkokNortheastern LineThailand's Northeastern railway line to Nong Khai and further to the Lao border (Mekong River)~100627Metre1958Northeastern high-speed rail lineA new high-speed standard-gauge line (Phase 2)250356StandardUnknownA new high-speed standard-gauge line under construction, connecting Nakhon Ratchasima to Bang Sue Grand Station (Phase 1)250253Standard2027
+ Western route - 24 km/h - 2,670 kmCountryCorridor / Line DescriptionDesignedSpeed(km/h)Length(km)GaugeOpen DateGuangtong–KunmingFinal section to Kunming via the Chengdu–Kunming Railway (reconstructed 2010–22)200106Standard2013Guangtong–DaliNew double-tracked line from Guangtong to Dali200213Standard2018Dali–RuiliCompleted section. 140134Standard2022Under construction to Muse at the China-Myanmar border.140196Standardc.2026Muse–LashioProposed line extending Myanmar's existing railway to the Chinese border at MuseUnknown~120UnknownNot builtLashio–MandalayPart of Myanmar's national railway system~24441Metre1905Mandalay–Yangon~24620Metre1889Yangon–Mawlamyine~24286Metre1907Mawlamyine–Thanbyuzayat~2464Metre1924Thanbyuzayat–Nam TokPart of the old Burma Railway, now disused.Unknown~285MetreAbandonedNam Tok–BangkokPart of the old Burma Railway, rehabilitated by 1957. ~100194Metre1957
+ Shared Bangkok–Singapore section - 100 km/h - 1,940 kmCountryCorridor / Line DescriptionDesignedSpeed(km/h)Length(km)GaugeOpen DateBangkok–Hat Yai–Padang BesarSouthern LineThailand's Southern railway line and branch line to the Malaysian border at Padang Besar~100974Metre1918Padang Besar–Kuala LumpurWest Coast Railway LineElectrified and operated by KTM ETS since December 2025.160533Metrec.1896Kuala Lumpur–Johor Bahru160369Metrec.1896Kuala Lumpur–Singapore HSRProposed High Speed Railway320335StandardUnknownJohor Bahru–SingaporeWest Coast Railway LineShuttle Tebrau service running between Johor Bahru and Singapore1102Metre1903Kuala Lumpur–Singapore HSRProposed High Speed Railway32015StandardUnknownRTS LinkRTS Link service between Johor Bahru and Singapore, projected to open in 2027.1104Standard2027
Sections Eastern route In China Kunming–Yuxi–Hekou railway, standard gauge railway from Kunming to Hekou (via Yuxi and Mengzi, completed in 2014). Kunming–Hai Phong railway (Kunming-Hekou section), 465 km old metre gauge railway parallel to the newer railway, from Kunming to the Hekou Yao Autonomous County on the border with Vietnam (completed in 1910).
In Vietnam
Kunming–Haiphong railway (Lao Cai-Haiphong section), metre gauge railway from Lao Cai, on the border with China, to Haiphong via Hanoi (completed in 1910). North–South railway of Vietnam, metre gauge railway from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City (completed in 1936). North–South express railway of Vietnam, standard gauge, high-speed rail, from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. This line was initially planned by Vietnam and Japan using Shinkansen bullet train technology and financed in part by Japanese official development assistance. The project was scheduled to be built in stages from 2011 to 2020. In June 2010, Vietnam's National Assembly rejected the plan due to high construction costs, reportedly equal to about 50 percent of the country's GDP. The project was slated for re-consideration during the 2019 Vietnam's National Assembly Session owing to Vietnam's economy growing at a rate faster than expected, thus significantly decreasing the project's cost / GDP ratio. In 2024, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính asked Chinese businesses to invest in developing Vietnam's rail sector and sought China's assistance in constructing the north–south high-speed railway as well as two additional high-speed railways further connecting Hanoi to the Chinese high-speed rail system. Ho Chi Minh City–Phnom Penh railway, . This stretch of railway has never been built, and has been agreed to for feasibility studies by transport ministers from both Cambodia and Vietnam in 2020.
In Laos Savannakhet–Lao Bao railway, a , electrified double track, high-speed railway from Savannakhet in Savannakhet Province, on the Thai border, to Lao Bảo in Vietnam's Quảng Trị Province. The project costs US$4 billion and is being built by the Giant Consolidated of Malaysia. A ground breaking ceremony was held in Ban Naxai on December 18, 2013. This line will also be extended to the port city of Danang in Vietnam, and give landlocked Laos an outlet to the South China Sea. Laos has been one of the strongest supports of the project given its desire to change from a land-locked to land-linked economy.
In Cambodia The Phnom Penh–Poipet railway, next to Aranyaprathet on the Thai border, was rebuilt and reopened on July 5, 2018. The original railway was destroyed in 1973 during the Cambodian Civil War. The disconnected rail link from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City is being reconsidered. The cost for construction is estimated around US$600 million and the Chinese government will fund most proportion of construction. The Cambodian government will deal with the relocation of people who will be affected by the proposed new railway construction.
In Thailand Thailand's Eastern Line railway connects the border town Aranyaprathet with Bangkok.
Central route The central route including the Bangkok to Singapore section is approximately in length. A trip from Kunming to Singapore will take 30 hours in 2022, and 18 hours when completed in 2040. (compared to 80 hours from Vientiane to Singapore in January 2019). The line will be used to transport both passengers and cargo.
The central route consists of the following sections:
In China Kunming–Yuxi railway, from Kunming to Yuxi (completed in 1993, upgraded in 2016). Yuxi–Mohan railway, 503 km standard gauge railway from Yuxi to Mohan at the border with Laos. This line was originally planned to begin construction by the end of 2010, but was delayed. Construction of a railway logistics hub in Mohan began in early 2011. Construction began in 2016 and was completed in 2021.
In Laos
Boten–Vientiane railway, standard gauge line from Boten in Luang Namtha Province on the border with China, to Thanaleng, on the border with Thailand. This section opened in December 2021.