Thanaleng Railway Station

Thanaleng Station
Thanaleng Station
Location	Dongphosy village, Hadxayfong district, Vientiane Prefecture, Laos
Owned by	State Railway of Thailand
Line(s)	Northeastern Line
History
Opened	March 5, 2009
Traffic
2,500 - 3,000 daily
Services
Preceding station   State Railway of Thailand   Following station Nong Khai toward Hua Lamphong Northeastern Line Terminus

Thanaleng Railway Station, also known as Dongphosy Station (Ban Dong Phosy in Lao), is a railway station in Dongphosy village, Hadxayfong district, Vientiane Prefecture, Laos. It is located 20 km (12 mi) east of the Lao capital city of Vientiane and 4 km (2.5 mi) north of the border between Laos and Thailand along the Mekong River. The station opened on March 5, 2009, becoming part of the first international railway link serving Laos. Originally intended for use as a passenger station, Lao officials have stated their intention to convert it to a rail freight terminal to provide a low-cost alternative to road freight, the main mode of transport for goods entering Thailand. The station provides a connection between Vientiane and the capital cities of three other ASEAN nations (Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore), and several major Southeast Asian ports.

On March 20, 2004, an agreement between the Thai and Lao governments was signed to extend the State Railway of Thailand's Northeastern Line from Nong Khai to Thanaleng, a town on the opposite side of the Mekong in Laos. The Thai government agreed to finance the line through a combination of grant and loan. The estimated cost of the Nong Khai–Thanaleng line was US$6.2 million, of which 70% was financed by Thai loans. Construction formally began on January 19, 2007, and test trains began running on July 4, 2008. Formal inauguration occurred on March 5, 2009. Thanaleng station is the only station of the Bangkok–Thanaleng rail route on the Lao side of the border.

On February 22, 2006, after the conclusion of a trilateral agreement between Thailand, Laos and France, the French Development Agency announced that it had approved funding for a second phase of the Thanaleng railway—an extension to Vientiane. The cost of this second phase was estimated at $13.2 million, including the cost of feasibility studies, infrastructure and equipment. A $50 million loan was also reportedly received from the Thai government for the extension. Construction was originally slated to begin in December 2010, and Lao railway officials had confirmed as late as September 2010 that plans would go ahead. The extension, which would have taken an estimated three years to complete, would have stretched 9 km (5.6 mi) from Thanaleng to a new main station in Khamsavat village in Vientiane's Xaysettha district, 4 km (2.5 mi) away from That Luang Temple.