Translated from an article in Revue générale des chemins de fer, July 1928

It was in 1897, with the arrival of Paul Doumer as Governor-General of the Colony, that the issue of Indochina Railways began to be studied seriously.

Equally, we may be able to realise a railway line from Phnom Penh to Kampong Thom, which crosses northern Cambodia and the province of Bassac, extending as far as Pakse and Savannakhet, and connecting two lines already in the planning stages, namely those from Saigon to Phnom Penh and Siam and from Tan-Ap to Thakhek.

Locomotives used most widely are those with six coupled driving wheels and an adhesive weight of 30 tonnes. They can haul loads of 300 tonnes at 40kmh and 370 tonnes at 20/25kmh.

Travellers have a choice of four classes. Most often, the first three classes are grouped in mixed carriages with corridors. The fourth class is almost exclusively used by local people, who provide over ⅘ of total passenger revenue.

Unlike others, the carriages of this class do not include compartments, but are fitted with longitudinal benches fixed against the side walls, leaving the central portion free for luggage.

Passenger traffic was relatively high following the opening of the first lines, and showed a steady increase from 1908 to 1920. However, since 1921, it has manifested a downward trend, due to very active competition from motor transportation, which has been increasingly developed in recent years. In fact, between 1920 and 1925, rail passenger traffic suffered a reduction amounting to around 30%.

We see that the total expenditure far exceeded the 200 million franc loan of 1898, and furthermore that it only provided for an incomplete programme of railway building. Only the construction of the line from Haïphong to Lao-Kay and Yunnan-fu was completed in accordance with the 1898 plan, which provided for a link between the important Chinese province of Yunnan and the international port of Haïphong

We should not, however, measure the value and success of the railway solely according to the financial results. It should be considered that the railway, even more than the road, is a tool for the exploitation and development of the colony, and not a stand-alone fiscal instrument.

Full http://www.historicvietnam.com/indochin ... s-in-1928/

That was a good find. It's nice to see we have made progress,,,, backwards ,,,, in the last 100 years.

Mixed carriages, the horror.