Kunming: Cross-border passenger numbers via the China-Laos railway surged during the Chinese New Year holiday. China Railway Kunming Branch Co., Ltd. reported a significant increase in cross-border passenger traffic on the China-Laos railway during the recently concluded nine-day Lunar New Year holiday (February 15-23), totaling 12,900 trips, a 41.8 percent year-on-year increase. Of these, over 6,300 were inbound passengers (a 52.7 percent increase) and over 6,500 were outbound passengers (a 32.5 percent increase).
According to Thai News Agency, the 1,035-kilometer China-Laos railway, connecting Kunming in Yunnan Province in southwestern China with Vientiane, the capital of Laos, commenced operations on December 3, 2021. International passenger train services between Kunming and Vientiane were added on April 13, 2023, to meet the growing demand for cross-border travel.
This railway line connects more than 560 tourist destinations and is considered a major cross-border tourism route, having facilitated cross-border travel for more than 700,000 tourists from 124 countries and regions.