Battambang Railway Station

I often wonder what the Expats in Cambodia think. Usually they just sit in bars getting drunk or smoking weed in ever increasing frequency or quantity because their bodies have become accustomed to the drugs. But occasionally they do spout off some rubbish. Sometimes about something interesting, like the railway being connected through to Thailand from Cambodia. I ask them where they heard that and they usually site some online publication. I usually don't rely on such fictitious pieces of work and go out and look at infrastructure myself. Go out and find the answers. Who, what, where, how, and when. Or stay in the bar for another drink I guess and do your reporting of facts from your laptop.

The picture that was the choice for the start of the blog is not random. It has real meaning. The clock at Battambang's railway station always says 8:02. It is obviously high noon, you can tell by the shadow cast from the clock. But not at Battambang's railway station, it is now and I am certain will always be 8:02.

Way back in 2008 the Asia development bank, AusAID and Toll thought it would be a splendid idea to refurbish the rail system in Cambodia and immediately opened the money faucet. It was due for completion in 2009. So lets see what progress has been made I guess, after all some random Expat had read it in some bogus online article somewhere. I grabbed my trusty camera and headed down to the local station. After all, one of the things that you would refurbish would be those old relics of railway stations located around Cambodia. People could then buy tickets to go on the train. A full fledged passenger railway station if you will. And there is even locomotive sheds here. Great for housing equipment and as repair shops. Clear away the vegetation from the tracks and make it recognizable as an operating railway station again. The date is late 2014 after all.

The above photos were taken at the railway station in late 2014. I think they show the stunning lack of progress that has been made in the area of rail transport in Cambodia. The last photo shows the 6 track wide entrance to the station, the tracks are under that grass somewhere I assure you. 

One of the problems that Cambodia has is that it fails to export high value goods. This would earn more in valuable foreign currency that would lift this country out of the economic mire that has been the case for the last 40 years. A true manufacturing base would be great to see in this, which you have to term, the basket case economy of ASEAN. But there is no real impetuous to actually do any of this. There is aid money pouring in from overseas. The graduates from local Universities will probably go into the family business of bringing in cheap products from overseas and selling them at a marked up price. Their symbol of pride, the certificate for a Bachelor of Masters in some odd discipline hanging on the wall gathering dust. The social gap between the have and have not's rapidly turning into an insurmountable chasm. 

Khmer owned and operated businesses employing both skilled and unskilled workers alike. Profits and wages staying in the country to be spent and support other businesses here. It sounds like a grand dream, and as I type this I realize that is still, and will probably always be 8:02 at the Battambang Railway Station. 

 

Bamboo Train - Battambang

It is hard to write about some tourist attractions without going into a little bit of the history about why they actually exist. This is the case with the Bamboo train of Battambang. So you will have to bear with me as I go over the history of the railway service in Cambodia before getting around the star of this blog.

One of the things the French actually did in Cambodia when it was part of French Indo China was to build a Railway. Other great legacies include roads, though most are in a poor state of repair, baguettes and of course coffee! There are many fine examples of railway stations around Cambodia that hark back to an era when this service was actually a thing. These are impressive buildings with surprising architecture and a common theme of being totally disused and covered in dirt and the signs of neglect.

What happened to the rail service? In short, WAR! The Khmer Rouge did a fine job of destroying this system during their reign in the mid 70's, though fighting continued on into the 90's in some parts of Cambodia. Actually, some of the reasons why the bamboo train was brought into existence hark back to these times. The trains of the time were headed by flat trolley like carriages which effectively acted as mine sweepers on the tracks. To ride on the front carriage was free! The second carriage was half price. What are bargain, the only downside being something like not being alive at the end of your journey.

But with the railways being bombed, mined, shelled and not maintained the rail system soon fell into disuse. But small sections of track were still serviceable and light weight vehicles could be constructed to ferry freight and passengers to villages for little cost. After all, the operators were not paying for line maintenance and other inconveniences like that. The light weight bed of the cart could be woven out of bamboo and dropped on to the top of some make shift railway wheels set for the meter gauge that is used here and you are in business! The originals of these carts were hand powered, but it is bloody hot here and they were soon converted to small gasoline engines. But even these modest engines could push the little carts along at up to 50 km/r, or 31 MPH if you are from one of THOSE countries. It was a successful system. But all railways need to be maintained and there is many problem like warped and uneven track on the journey.

Fast forward several years and in 2008 the Asia development bank, AusAID and Toll thought it would be a splendid idea to refurbish the rail system in Cambodia and immediately opened the money faucet. It was due for completion in 2009. So far it is still not completed in 2014. There are different rumours of completion dates with the whole rail system linking Singapore completely through to Kunming, Yaunan Province in China in 2015. I am optimistic about the completion time from Phnom Penh through to Ho Chi Minh. This is being undertaken by a Chinese company and they want steel from Cambodia, so there is a hidden agenda there. But the other completion dates, only Buddha knows!

Anyway, back to the main subject. The Bamboo train. Going from Battambang city you head toward the Dambong Statue. After going through the roundabout on the road to Phnom Penh take one of the roads to the right. Look lost and there will plenty of people pointing your way, or alternately, stop and say "Norr EE". Norry or Nori being an adopted word into the Khmer language from the French word for lorry. The easiest possible way is to catch a tuk tuk and say take me to the Bamboo Train.

The station is overseen by the local tourist police and there is no fixed schedule. Just turn up, pay your $5 per person ticket fee and there will be a train to take you out to the brick factory. The train station at the other end is full of vendors trying to sell you everything from Coke, tourist t-shirts and various carvings. A pretty standard tourist money extraction place.

As stated before, the nori consists of a bamboo flat truck with makeshift wheels and a small gasoline engine. The top is covered with a mat which adds zero comfort to the ride. Tearing down the track, there is plenty of opportunity for photographs and video of Khmer rural countryside. But the seating position and general discomfort of the vehicle make you grateful for the shortness of the ride. If you meet another nori coming the other way then one must be disassembled, removed from the track and then reassembled after the other vehicle has past. Thankfully this is a pretty easy procedure. I am not sure which nori gives way though. Possibly it is like many of the road rules in Cambodia where the heavier of the 2 vehicles has right of way, no matter what the actual law says about the matter.

Zipping down the tracks at about 50 km/r you will notice that the nori does not have some of the refinements in life. Like suspension, a windscreen, or even brakes. But think that it is far from the hair raising ride that some tourist purport it to be. Just go for the fun and buy the t-shirt!

It is a great little tourist outing for a couple of hours. While you are over that part of town you can check out Pshar Thmey, one of the biggest markets in town. Stop for soup, rice and a great ice coffee for maybe a little over a buck.