2015年CRI Thailand, China Launch Railway Project

 

The launch ceremony has taken place at the Chiang Rak Noi Station in central Thailand's province of Ayutthaya.

This is where the project's Operation Control Center will be located. 

Saturday's ceremony comes exactly one-year after the Thailand-China Memorandum¹ of Understanding for Railway Cooperation was first inked, and three months after the signing of an inter-governmental agreement on railway projects. 

Thai deputy² Prime Minister Prachin Chantong. 

"Today last year, we signed an MOU between Thailand and China in cooperation on this train project. It's been only one year since our commitment and we can make it clear that this project is certainly going forward." 

The 845-kilometer-long line will pass through 10 Thai provinces and link the capital Bangkok with the northeastern city of Nong Khai, which is located near the northern Thai border with Laos. 

The trains themselves are designed to operate at a top speed of 180 km per hour. 

Thai Railways Minister Wutthichart Kalayanamitr says the link, once completed, will create significant economic benefits for the country. 

"It will benefit Thai people, especially those living along the railway line, by creating job opportunities and increasing their income, as well as pushing forward tourism development and cutting transportation costs." 

The project itself is scheduled to be finished by 2018. 

Both China and Thailand are financing³ the project, which is going to cost close to 470-billion US dollars when finally complete. 

The link is part of a planned rail corridor running from Yunnan's capital Kunming all the way to the Malaysian peninsula. 

Chinese state councilor Wang Yong. 

"Once the railway takes shape, Thailand will become a key transportation hub of Southeast Asia, facilitating⁴ both the socioeconomic development of Thailand and its trade and exchange with China." 

It's expected the railway will help an additional 2-million Chinese tourists make their way to Thailand every year.

Construction is expected to begin this coming May. 

For CRI, this is Li Jianhua.

1 memorandum   

n.备忘录，便笺

参考例句：

• The memorandum was dated 23 August,2008.备忘录上注明的日期是2008年8月23日。
• The Secretary notes down the date of the meeting in her memorandum book.秘书把会议日期都写在记事本上。

2 deputy   

n.代理人，代表，副职；adj.代理的，副的

参考例句：

• John will act as a deputy for me during my absence.我离开期间，约翰将代理我的职务。
• She is the deputy headmistress of the school.她是那所学校的代理校长。

3 financing   

n.筹措资金

参考例句：

• The main source of our outside financing is bank loan. 我们向外筹措资金的主要渠道是银行贷款。
• They live in a symbiosis with governments that they are financing. 他们与他们服务的政府互利共存。

4 facilitating   

促进( facilitate的现在分词 )； 使便利； 推进； 帮助（某人）进步

参考例句：

• Ironically, much of the labor-facilitating industrialization came from the rural areas themselves. 出人意外的是，这些节省劳力的工业化，多数是从农区本身开始的。
• Combining the maintenance of the economic order with facilitating commodity circulation. 维护经济秩序和便利商品流通相结合。