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This is How Southeast Asia Would Look Like if Every Proposed Railways Built

This is How Southeast Asia Would Look Like if Every Proposed Railways Built

Southeast Asia could look quite different in the future, if proposals for new railways become reality. There’s been plenty of proposed new railways in Southeast Asia over the years, with few have come to fruition.

James Clark, a travel writer based in Vietnam who runs an amazing travel blog Nomadic Notes, has drawn up a fantastic map featuring all the current and proposed railways across mainland and maritime Southeast Asia.

With years-worth of news article reporting railway lines that are under construction, or have been proposed to be built, with subway-style map to represent the lines.

The Future of Southeast Asia. Image: James Clark
The Future of Southeast Asia. Image: James Clark

 

“The map represents how to get from A to B rather than portraying exact geographical accuracy,” wrote Clark in its publication. But the style gives an idea of important junctions, such as Bangkok!

In drawing up the map, Clark sees a vision of a transport in the region being a cross between Europe’s international InterCity services and China’s high speed rail network. “With a single visa for ASEAN, an InterCity-style train would be able to travel from Bangkok to Phnom Penh in four hours, and a high-speed train in under three.”

Bangkok proposed stations. Image: James Clark
Bangkok proposed stations. Image: James Clark

 

Here are some of the highlighted proposed railways:

Trans-Sumatera

A planned Trans-Sumatera railway would travel more than 2.000 km from Banda Aceh in the north to Bandar Lampung in the south.

 

Mindanao, Philippines

The Philippines has a fragmented line serving South Luzon, but the railways on Luzon and Mindanao has been continually promised for years.

 

Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High Speed Rail. Image: Singapore Land Transport Authority
Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High Speed Rail. Image: Singapore Land Transport Authority

Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High Speed Rail

Today, both countries have committed to begin construction in 2017. The two capitals are about 350 km apart and the route is an ideal city pair. Speed Rail link is expected to cult the travel time between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in only 90 minutes 

 

Bang Sue Grand Central Station

One big infrastructure project that is currently under construction is Bang Sue Grand Central Station with 24 proposed platforms. This can easily become the largest train station in Southeast Asia (and one of the largest in the world in terms of platform numbers).

Bang Sue Grand Central Station. Image: Skycrapercity
Bang Sue Grand Central Station. Image: Skycrapercity

 

So, which railway are you most excited about?

 

Indah Gilang Pusparani

Indah is a researcher at Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kota Cirebon (Regional Development Planning and Research Agency of Cirebon Municipality). She covers More international relations, tourism, and startups in Southeast Asia region and beyond. Indah graduated from MSc Development Administration and Planning from University College London, United Kingdom in 2015. She finished bachelor degree from International Relations from University of Indonesia in 2014, with two exchange programs in Political Science at National University of Singapore and New Media in Journalism at Ball State University, USA. She was awarded Diplomacy Award at Harvard World Model United Nations and named as Indonesian Gifted Researcher by Australian National University. She is Researcher at Regional Planning Board in Cirebon, West Java. She previously worked as Editor in Bening Communication, the Commonwealth Parliament Association UK, and diplomacy consulting firm Best Delegate LLC in USA. Less
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