Cambodia’s railways –long a subject of scrutiny – have been tagged by economists as offering economic potential, while for others, they represent safety hazards.
Overshadowed by nine accidents so far this year, the country’s locomotive sector is experiencing infrastructural lag and safety lapses, according to industry officials and community leaders who spoke with CamboJA News.
Officials have emphasized the need to improve railway infrastructure and add safety enhancements to prevent more future accidents. However, Cambodia’s traffic management issues have compounded the problem, as limited awareness of traffic laws and enforcement capabilities, combined with inadequate safety measures, has led to the frequent crashes.
While multilateral projects of the past have dedicated hundreds of millions of dollars to help modernize Cambodia’s railways, a new transport plan from the government, which has a more modest budget than prior initiatives, is seen as the immediate tool to manage the crisis.
Nine Train Accidents Reported This Year Across Multiple Provinces
In all but three months this year, a train crossing Cambodia either crashed into a vehicle, a person or derailed. Of the nine incidents since February, three occurred in Pursat province, resulting in a total of 51 injured and two fatalities.
A team of CamboJA News reporters conducted archival research from prior news reports and verified social media posts to identify these crashes:
The first incident occurred in Battambang province on February 1, where a traffic accident between a truck and a train resulted in one person being seriously injured.
This was followed by an incident in Pursat province on February 19, when a train collided with a car, causing the track to derail and injuring five of its passengers.
On March 29, also in Pursat province, a train collided with a tour bus, injuring 45 people – both seriously and less severely – most of whom were passengers on the bus.
In Phnom Penh, on May 23, a train hit a car but no one was injured.
On July 25, a train traveling from Banteay Meanchey to Poipet collided with an electrical line due to its longer-than-usual length; no one was injured.
On July 13, in Kandal province, a man died after being hit by a train with no specific reason given by investigators.
Then, on July 15 in Preah Sihanouk province, a water truck was hit by a passenger train on a dirt road next to the railway, no injuries were reported.
On August 2, in Phnom Penh, a man was hit and killed by a train after wandering onto the tracks while intoxicated.
The most recent incident occurred on August 4 in Pursat province, when a train derailed, no one was injured.
Calls for Safety Upgrades and Driver Awareness
Chum Bun Yoeun, Chhoeu Tom commune chief in Krakor district in Pursat, believes that a broken wheel was the cause of the most recent incident in Pursat.
“If you looked at the wreckage, it was clear that an issue with the wheels on one of the tenders caused the wreck, not due to an issue with the track,” Bun Khean said, disagreeing with the official cause declared by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) that a flooded railway led to the train derailing.
Following the derailment, MPWT spokesperson Phorn Rim made a post on social media stating that the northern section of the railway in Krakor district – where the August 4 incident took place — took on minor damage from the falling carriages but was reconnected by the evening.
Despite swift rebuilding and no one being injured, Bun Khean hoped safety upgrades would be added to the line after the incident.
“I want to request that barriers be installed around the station,” he said. “There are many crossroads nearby, and without barrier gates, we are at risk of future accidents.”
According to Hong Vannak, an economic researcher at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, most accidents occur at crossings for pedestrians that lack barriers, overpasses and train attendants.
In the first eight months of this year, five railway incidents involved collisions with vehicles.
Vannak believes that train-vehicle collisions would be completely avoided if authorities and private investors built overpasses where rail lines intersect with roads.
Rim also expressed his concern that a lack of traffic safety awareness and negligence among drivers was a leading cause for these collisions.
He added that the Ministry has taken several measures to reduce accidents on railways such as increasing the dissemination of road safety information, constructing new road signs and crossing gates, adding crossing guards and engaging with the authorities to spread awareness about road safety.
However, Rim stated that the MPWT has no plans to build overpasses and did not provide an explanation for why the Ministry is not considering this infrastructure.
Unsafe Railways Lead to Lost Potential
While any talk of an economic boost from expanding railways appears moot given the current safety lapses, Vannak believes that the increased focus on Cambodia’s railways provides an opportunity for stakeholders to explore the economic potential of developing the infrastructure.
The economist said that railways play an important role for cost-effective transportation and they have a smaller environmental footprint compared to most other forms of cargo transport, such as trucks, planes and boats.
In order to achieve this benefit, the government must first focus on upgrading standard infrastructure and safety measures then stay steadfast on modernization, according to Vannak.
“Now we see a degree of modernization in our trains, as they become faster and more fuel-efficient, but this must be followed by increased maintenance and a build out of safety systems,” he said.
He added that investing in high-speed trains offers long-term economic benefits, makes travel much easier, and can boost tourism. However, he also mentioned that focusing on high-tech locomotives might be premature without first addressing the sector’s current safety issues.
While the MPWT is focused on upgrading safety measures at train stations, the Cambodian government has highlighted its desire to extend railway networks and projects across the country.
Under a new railway transport plan which came to fruition in 2023, eight new lines are scheduled to go online by 2033, two of which have already been built and used, according to Rim.
Governed by the mantra “Where there is a road, there is hope,” the railway transport plan asserts that, like other transportation networks, “railways have both directly and indirectly contributed to the development and socio-economic achievements of Cambodia”.
With around USD $10 million allocated to projects over the next nine years to “rehabilitate” and “upgrade” existing lines, as well as to develop new routes, the first check of the railway transport plan may be used to make safety improvements before addressing other needs.
