TOKYO/YANGON -- Mitsubishi Corp. has signed two contracts with Myanmar's state-run railway, Myanma Railways, to deliver new rolling stock, the Japanese trading house said Tuesday.
The total cost of the two projects is approximately 69 billion yen ($663 million), which will be covered by an international yen loan agreement between the governments of Japan and Myanmar. The projects are part of the Japanese government's railway infrastructure export drive.
Mitsubishi will deliver 66 cars for the Yangon Circular Railway, which runs in a loop in Myanmar's largest city, and 180 cars for the Yangon-Mandalay Railway, which connects Yangon, Naypyitaw and Mandalay.
The new cars will shorten travel time on the 46-km Yangon Circular Railway from about 170 minutes to 110 minutes, and on the 620-km Yangon-Mandalay Railway from about 15 hours to around eight hours.
Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, Spain's leading rail car manufacturer, better known as CAF, will manufacture the train cars using Japanese equipment for part of its electrical systems and deliver the cars from 2023 to 2025.
Myanmar has been overhauling its national rail system, neglected during decades of military rule, starting with two major arteries pivotal to economic revitalization.
Work started in February 2018 to upgrade the Yangon Circular Railway. In addition to cutting travel time, the overhaul aims to boost service frequency by 40%.
The project has fueled development along the line in anticipation of a jump in commuters.
The redevelopment will extend to government-owned tracts surrounding Yangon Central Railway Station, the main stop on the loop. Along with a new domed transport hub next to the existing station, the site will house high-rise office buildings and shopping spaces.
The country also envisions establishing urban subcenters along the Yangon Circular Railway.
Meanwhile the improvement of the 60-year-old line between Yangon and Mandalay, the country's second-largest city, would be a boon to the northern Mandalay region, home to the country's main producers of agricultural products and natural resources. The line also runs through Myanmar's capital, Naypyitaw.
