VIENTIANE, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The construction of a 40-meter four-pipe communication tower of the China-Laos railway Vientiane station was completed on the outskirts of the Lao capital on Monday, marking major progress in the railway communication signal project.

Amid the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, the China Railway Construction Electrification Bureau Group Co., Ltd. (CRCC-EBG, simplified as EBG), which is undertaking the communication signal project of the China-Laos railway, made a comprehensive plan, organized construction carefully, and closely monitored every step.

Li Chunsheng, who is in-charge of the EBG management, told Xinhua on Monday that his team, on the one hand, prepared for the possible long-term pandemic by implementing a daily notification system with the application of online management platform of every staff's health condition.

On the other hand, they mapped the overseas transportation and procurement route, detailed the procedure and coordinated the materials and equipment to overcome the difficulties in transportation brought by the pandemic, so as to effectively ensure the installation of the first communication tower of the China-Laos railway.

Li Chunsheng said his project department strictly carried out the goals proposed by the Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd (LCRC), a joint venture based in Vientiane in charge of the railway's construction and future operation, namely "absolute isolation (from pandemic risks), zero infection, and catching up the construction timetable", simultaneously managing the epidemic prevention and project progressing.

"So far, many signal houses and communication towers' construction along the China-Laos railway are being carried out steadily. Cable installment in the tunnels is also in progress," said Li.

The communication signal project of a railway is the core and key of the entire railway's train operation, command and control system, and is known as the "brain and nerve center" of the railway.

The China-Laos Railway is a project between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub.

The 414-km railway, with 198-km tunnels and 62-km bridges, will run from Boten border gate in northern Laos bordering China, to Vientiane with an operating speed of 160 km per hour.

The electrified passenger and cargo railway is built with the full application of the Chinese management and technical standards. The construction of the project started in December 2016 and is scheduled to be completed and open to traffic in December 2021.