19 May

A ceremony to mark the start of the upgrading of the Yangon Mandalay railway and installation of the signaling systems was held at the central Yangon railway station on 18 May 2019.

The ceremony was attended by U Thant Sin Maung, Union Minister for Transport and Communications, U Phyo Min Thein, Chief Minister of Yangon Region, the Regional Ministers, U Win Khant, Permanent Secretary, U Ba Myint, managing director of Myanma Railways (MR) and officials from MR, Mr. Ichiro Maruyama, Japanese Ambassador to Myanmar, Mr. Masayuki Karazawa, Chief Representative from JICA and officials, Mr.Yasushi Nakagawa from Tekken –RN JV company, Mr. Tsuneo Lizuka from Tokyu Construction Co.Ltd, among others.

At the ceremony, Union Minister for Transport and Communications U Thant Sin Maung said, “Today’s ceremony is to launch the upgrading of railway and flyovers, and installation of signaling systems covered by the Yangon-Mandalay railway upgrading project phase-1. During the project period, only one railway can be used, thereby keeping the trains waiting. Some of the trains and road junctions are in danger, and so we need to have some cooperation. Upon completion of the project, the trains will be allowed to run at speeds of 100 kilometers per hour.

Yangon Regional Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein, and Japanese Ambassador to Myanmar Mr. Ichiro Maruyama also delivered speeches. Afterwards, Chief Representative from JICA Mr. Masayuki Karazawa, TekkenRN JV company Mr. Yasushi Nakagawa, and Yokyu Construction Co. Ltd Mr. Tsuneo Lizuka spoke words of thanks.

Yangon-Mandalay railway is 385.5 miles long. So, the upgrading of the railway will be conducted in two phases: the 166-mile-long Yangon-Toungoo section and the 219.5-mile-long Toungoo-Mandalay section. The Yangon-Toungoo section is subdivided into three parts–Yangon-Bago (CP-101) 46.5 miles, Bago-Nyaunglaybin (CP-102) 46.25 miles and Nyaunglebin-Toungoo (CP-103) 73.25 miles. — Myint Maung Soe (Translated by Hay Mar)