The Yunnan–Vietnam Railway (Chinese: 滇越铁路; pinyin: Dian–Yue tielu; Vietnamese: tuyến đường sắt Hải Phòng - Vân Nam/ 綫塘鐵海防－雲南; French: Chemins de Fer de L'Indo-Chine et du Yunnan, "Indo-China–Yunnan Railroad") is an 855 km railway built by France during 1904–1910, connecting Haiphong, Vietnam with Kunming, Yunnan province, China. The section within China from Kunming to Hekou is known as the Kunming–Hekou Railway (Chinese: 昆河铁路; pinyin: Kun–He tielu), and is 466 km long. The section within Vietnam is 389 km long, and is considered a part of Hanoi–Lào Cai Railway (Vietnamese: Đường sắt Hà Nội - Lào Cai/ 塘鐵河内－老街). The railway used 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) gauge due to the mountainous terrain along the route. Currently it is the only main line in China using metre gauge.

History[edit]

In the 19th century, the French colonial administration worked to develop regular trading networks and an efficient transport infrastructure between Indochina and south-west China. The primary motivation for such an effort was to facilitate export of European goods to China.[2] A railway would also give France access to Yunnan's natural resources, mineral resources and opium, and open up the Chinese market for Indochinese products such as rice, dry fish, wood and coal.[2]

Prior to the construction of the railway, the standard travel time from Haiphong (the closest sea port to most of Yunnan) to Kunming was reckoned by the Western authorities to be 28 days: 16 days by steamer and then a small boat up the Red River to Manhao (425 miles), and then 12 days overland (194 miles).[3]

The right to build the railway was obtained following China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95). At a cost of 95 million francs (€362 million), the railway was among the most ambitious colonial projects undertaken by France, and was put into use on 1 April 1910.[2][4] The 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge section was originally administered in more or less the same way as the Indochinese networks, and if not for a "missing link" through Cambodia (between Saigon and Phnom Penh), it would have been physically possible for through trains to run from Kunming to Singapore, as metre gauge was used in Malaya as well.

Under pressure from Japan, France closed the line on 16 July 1940 to cut supplies to China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. During the Japanese occupation Japanese National Railways Class 9600 2-8-0 locomotives were shipped to aid their invasion, and after the completion of the "death railway" it was possible for a time to send through traffic to Burma and hence to the Indian metre gauge network.[citation needed] This is now not possible, as sections of the railway were destroyed during the conflicts since World War II.[5]

During the Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979, the railway bridge at the two countries' border was destroyed, and the trade between China and Vietnam came to a halt for a period of some years.[6]

Gebishi Railway

The 600 mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in) narrow gauge Gebishi branch line was built from Caoba towards Shiping and was 176 kilometres (109 mi) long. It was constructed in 1915 and the last 72 kilometres (45 mi) part was closed in 1990.

Present state[edit]

Twice-a-week cross-border passenger service (involving the second-class passengers having to transfer from a Chinese train to a Vietnamese train at the border station, while the first-class car passengers could remain onboard as their car was transferred to the train across the border) operated as late as 2000, but landslides caused frequent delays.[7] Eventually, in 2005[8] the passenger service on the Chinese section of the railway (the Kunming–Hekou Railway) was terminated,[9] [10] and most of the passenger coaches were donated to Myanmar.[8]

In 2008, passenger service on a small part (37 km long) of the Chinese section of the railway was resumed, but on a very limited scale. As of 2012, two daily trains run from Kunming North Railway Station on the meter-gauge tracks to Shizui (石咀) Station on the western outskirts of Kunming, and to Wangjiaying (王家营) east of the city.[8]

Freight service still continues to operate throughout the Kunming–Hekou Railway.[9] Among important cargo types moved internationally on this line are chemical fertilizers.[11]

On the Vietnamese side, passenger trains continue to run from Hanoi to the border town of Lào Cai.[9][10]

The new Kunming–Hekou railway line[edit]

Main articles: Yuxi–Mengzi Railway and Mengzi–Hekou Railway

A new standard-gauge railway line from Kunming toward the Vietnamese border is under construction. Its first section, a railway branch from Kunming to Yuxi, was opened in 1993.[12] The new Yuxi–Mengzi section opened for freight service in February 2013; in April 2013, passenger trains started running daily as far as Mengzi North, 258 km south of Kunming and approximately 150 km north of Hekou; the second daily train was added by July.[12]

The Mengzi-Hekou section was opened in December 2014 as well; regular passenger service started between Hekou North and Kunming, with some trains continuing to Dali.[13]

Although this new Kunming–Yuxi–Mengzi rail line roughly parallels the old Kunming–Hai Phong Railway, the two railway's routes are significantly different: the new rail line, passing through Tonghai and Jianshui, is about 30 km west of the old narrow-gauge railway (which runs via Yiliang and Kaiyuan).[