Tanintharyi Line

A train at Ye Station

Tanintharyi Line is a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge railway line in Myanmar's southernmost region, Tanintharyi Region, operated by Myanma Railways. The line runs from Mawlamyine Railway Station (Moulmein) to the Dawei area, with connections to Yangon Central Railway Station, it is under construction extending towards Myeik from the current terminus of Thayetchaung Station, which lies just after Dawei Station. Current section in operation includes the part from Mawlamyaing Station to Dawei. A pair of trains runs daily between Yangon and Dawei. In addition, two pairs of trains operate between Yangon and Mawlamyaing. The journey along the entire route takes approximately 24 hours.

History

1994 saw the start of construction of the initially isolated 160 km (99 mi) Ye-Dawei (Tavoy) railway, completed March 1998. It was built using forced labor, drawn up from surrounding communities. This was later joined to the route north at Ye by the new 250 m (270 yd) road/rail bridge across the Ye River, opened November 2003. In April 2008, the tracks were extended across the 2.4 km (1.5 mi) Thanlwin Bridge, a road/rail bridge located in Moulmein, provision having been made in its design when it was opened a few years earlier. This allowed the long isolated section south to Ye and later Dawei (Tavoy) to receive trains from the north of the country. A 20-mile extension to Thayetchaung Station was opened to traffic in June 2011.

Stations

Thanlwin River Bridge at Mawlamyaing
Mawlamyaing (Moulmein) station
Line at Thanbyuzayat
Ye station
Dawei (Tavoy) station

Under construction

Subsequent plans called for the extension of the line south of Dawei: a 31 km (19 mi) section to Thayetchaung opened on June 4, 2011, and construction continued southward from there before the project was halted in 2014.Today Dawei station is the southernmost operational station on the Myanma Railways network.

Future

It is expected to become a part of a pan-Asian railway network, allowing spur connections specifically to Thailand. A connection (95 km as the crow flies) between the SRT railhead at Nam Tok railway station in Kanchanaburi Province to Dawei Station through the mountains underwent preparatory surveying in 2017, funded by the Japan Internation Cooperation Agency.