End of the line for Cambodia’s famous ‘Bamboo Railway’.

Battambang’s famous ‘bamboo train’ – a bamboo and wooden platform powered by a small motor, for those who’ve never heard of it (see photo) – much loved by tourists, much plugged by Lonely Planet researchers, much used by locals and a much appreciated earner for those who work on them, seems now to have a limited future.

Battambang, 'bamboo railway'

Certainly one of the most fun, and most popular, things to do in Battambang, foreign passengers can number in the hundreds per day during the high season. The classic late afternoon trip is a 4 km or so ride to a small bridge with a good view of the sunset over the paddy-fields whilst morning journeys will take you 7 kms down the line to the next, (abandoned), station where you can have a can of Coke before riding back to your starting points in the outskirts of Battambang Town.

For locals it’s a valuable and convenient means of getting goods and passengers from outlying villages into town, (drivers claim to be able to carry up to 3 tons of rice at a time which may be hard to believe but anyway……),  plus it’s a decent means of income for ‘train’ drivers, tuk-tuk drivers to take you to the start and back and souvenir and drinks vendors along the way. “Bamboo trains’ are widely used everywhere in Cambodia where an old line exists – Pursat, Kompong Chnang, Kampot etc but this stretch is the one tourists are familiar with).

There haven’t been any passenger trains on the French built line, which originally ran from Phnom Penh to Sisophon, for a few years now, since the upgraded highway takes 4-5 hours to the capital whilst the old train on the even older rails took at least 12. There are rumours of occasional goods trains but we’ve certainly never seen one.

All aboard the choo-choo train........

Anyway plans are now afoot to upgrade Cambodia’s rail ‘network’ and incorporate the Battambang stretch into a Saigon to Bangkok high speed link – see article here. (In theory this will eventually link Saigon by rail to Scotland!?) A line from Phnom Penh towards the Vietnamese border has actually been completed but we are skeptical about the time frame for the Phnom Penh to Bangkok part. The decades old narrow gauge rails, distorted by tropical weather and hand grenades need rebuilding from scratch rather than upgrading and ever single bridge will have to be replaced. The Thai section of the planned route, whilst functioning, is in a pretty decrepit state so that’ll need doing too.

In true Cambodian fashion they’ll rip up the entire 300 or so kms at the same time instead of doing it in sections so even if the completion date is way off in the distant future expect the bamboo trains to be halted fairly soon.

There are also rumours that a section may be kept, or relocated, and saved as a tourist attraction but if you want to be sure to get a ride go soon or wait a few years and buy an Glasgow – Saigon off-peak return!?

Bamboo train rides are included on all our Cambodia trips as well as our Saigon to Bangkok and Indochina Adventure tours. Cheers!