2 tunnels dug through in China-Laos Railway construction

Staff of China Railway No. 5 Engineering Group celebrate after Nateuy No. 2 Tunnel of China-Laos Railway was dug through in Oudomxay Province of Laos, some 400 km north of Lao capital Vientiane, April 15, 2019. (Xinhua/Hu Yong)

Two tunnels of the China-Laos Railway, namely Nathong No. 2 and Nateuy No. 2, were dug through on the same day on Monday by the constructor China Railway No. 5 Engineering Group (CREC-5).

The two tunnels were located in Oudomxay Province, some 400 km north of Lao capital Vientiane.

The two tunnels, with lengths of 225 meters and 1,145 meters respectively, were dug through two months and three months ahead of schedule respectively. So far, the CREC-5 has holed through five out of the 10 tunnels in the section.

Xiao Qianwen, the Communist Party of China (CPC) secretary of joint working committee of the China-Laos Railway, told Xinhua on Monday that the accomplishment was another key progress made in tunnel construction of the railway project, after the drilling-through of Boten Tunnel, the first major tunnel over 5,000 meters along the China-Laos railway, in March.

The China-Laos Railway is a strategic docking project between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub.

The 414-km railway, with 75 tunnels of 198 km and bridges of 62 km, runs from Mohan-Boten border gate in northern Laos to the capital of Vientiane within an operating speed of 160 km per hour.

The electrified passenger and cargo railway is built with the full application of Chinese management standards and technical standards.

The project was started in December 2016 and is scheduled to be completed and open to traffic in December 2021.