Overhead contact system for power supply of China-Laos railway commissioned

VIENTIANE, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- The overhead contact system (OCS) for power supply of the China-Laos railway was successfully commissioned after the test of its final parts on Sunday morning.

In the test, the electricity transmission scope covers the railway's all 20 stations in Laos and over 400 km railway lines. The trial operation ran smoothly and successfully with all technical data such as on insulation and voltage transformers meeting the requirements of project design and engineering standards.

The electrical engineering work on the railway started in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, carried out by China Railway Wuhan Electrification Engineering Group Co., Ltd (WEEG) and designed by China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co., Ltd.

In the construction process, the Chinese engineers and workers have overcome the extra challenges in logistics and COVID-19 prevention, achieving the goal of "zero infection, no delay".

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

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