Lam Dong supports proposal to restore French-era cog railway
The Central Highlands province of Lam Dong has expressed support of a proposal on restoring a French-era cog railway connecting the resort city of Da Lat in the province and the coastal Phan Rang-Thap Cham city in Khanh Hoa province.
Part of French-era cog railway connecting the resort city of Da Lat in Lam Dong and the coastal Phan Rang-Thap Cham city in Khanh Hoa province (Source: vnexpress)
Lam Dong (VNA) – The Central Highlands province of Lam Dong has expressed support of aproposal on restoring a French-era cog railway connecting the resort city of DaLat in the province and the coastal Phan Rang-Thap Cham city in Khanh Hoaprovince.
The provincial People’sCommittee issued a notice on the proposal following a recent working session onthe pre-feasibility study on the work, submitted by the Bach Dang trade,service and hotel company.
The railway, the only one of itskind in Indochina, was built during the French colonial rule in early 20th century. Construction of the route started in 1908 and took 24 years tocomplete. It was designed for trains to climb the Song Pha Pass, which is at analtitude of 1,500m above sea level.
After the liberation of thesouthern region in 1975, the route was totally damaged, and most the rails,locomotives and train carriages were dismantled and used for other purposes.
In 1991, a 7-km section of theroute was restored to serve tourism by the tourism sector in coordination withthe Vietnam Railway. The service, running from Da Lat to Trai Mat (also in DaLat city), attracts hundreds of visitors each day.
An old station on the route,with its architecture combining European style with the local traditional “Rong” house ,still remains.
The proposed project onrestoring the railway in the form of public – private partnership (PPP) willhave an investment amounting to more than 1 trillion VND (43.1 million USD), and should be subjectto approval by the Transport Ministry, the Government and the National Assembly.
Lam Dong authorities have askedBach Dang company to study recommendations from the Vietnam Railway Authorityand other relevant agencies and complete the pre-feasibility study forsubmitting to the Transport Ministry. -VNA
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Part of French-era cog railway connecting the resort city of Da Lat in Lam Dong and the coastal Phan Rang-Thap Cham city in Khanh Hoa province (Source: vnexpress) 
