Rail transport in Myanmar
[1] The network, generally spanning north to south with branch lines to the east and west, is the second largest in Southeast Asia,[citation needed] and includes the Yangon Circular Railway which serves as a commuter railway for Yangon, the principal commercial city in Myanmar.
The speed of freight trains is heavily restricted on all existing links as a consequence of poor track and bridge conditions.
[6][verification needed] Rail transport was first launched in British Burma on 2 May 1877 with the opening of the 259-kilometre (161 mi) Rangoon (Yangon) to Prome (Pyay) line by The Irrawaddy Valley State Railway.
In 1884, a new company, The Sittang Valley State Railway, opened a 267-kilometre (166 mi) line along the Sittaung River from Yangon to the town of Toungoo (Taungoo) via Pegu (Bago).
The "Death Railway" link with Thailand fell into disuse after the war and the section of this line in Burma was permanently closed.
Since coming to power in 1988, the military government embarked on a railway construction program and, by 2000 the network had grown to 5,068 km (3,149 mi) (track-km) divided into 11 operating divisions.
Rolling stock is a three car train purchased second hand from Hiroshima, Japan; it is the first 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge, and a third rail was added to the line to accommodate it.
Recently, rail service has been extended along the Taninthayi coast to Mon State and Tanintharyi Region with Mawlamyine station as the southern hub.
[3][11] The Yangon Urban Mass Rapid Transit is due to begin construction of the east–west line from Hlaing Thayar in the west to Parami in the east in 2022, to be complete by 2027.
Up to 1987 the main suppliers were Alstom, Krupp and various Japanese companies, but since then orders have been placed with China because of Myanmar's lack of access to hard currency.
In 2004, Myanma Railway had approximately 40 oil-fired steam locomotives, of which about a dozen were serviceable and saw occasional use on goods, local passenger and tourist trains.
1350 HP AC/DC main line diesel locomotives with a maximum speed of 100 km/h had been customised for the Myanmar Railways.
[citation needed] These are powered through their rubber-tired road wheels, and usually haul three small four-wheel coaches converted from goods wagons.
However there are ongoing projects to integrate Myanmar with neighbourhood as part of Look East policy of India and String of Pearls, Belt and Road Initiatives of China such as: The proposed international rail links are:
