An agreement for the construction of this 220 kilometres (140 mi), $5 billion line, was signed on 5 November 2012 with a Malaysian company called Giant Consolidated Limited.
[3][4] On 11 April 2016, the Laotian Ministry of Public Works and Transport approved a new rail corridor after it was reported that the previous route would have unacceptable social and environmental impacts.
[5] Installation of corridor posts along the proposed railway right-of-way was completed in December 2016, with major construction to commence immediately after final approval from the Lao government.
The viability of the project also depends on a connection from the Lao Bao border checkpoint high up in the highlands of Quảng Trị Province, to the existing Vietnamese train line which runs along the coast.
An ADB technical assistance report[7] notes that this section of the line is yet to be built and there are as yet no media reports of such a plan by the Vietnamese government to build such a line, questioning the viability of the entire project.