The roof-sealing ceremony for the Vientiane Station's main building of the China-Laos Railway was held in Lao capital Vientiane on Thursday.
This marked the successful completion of the main structure's construction and the start of the station's secondary structure's construction and decoration.
The Vientiane Station, the largest and most important station of the China-Laos railway, is built by China Railway Construction Group Co., Ltd. (CRCG). The station will consist of four platforms with seven track lines and two additional platforms with three lines reserved.
With a construction area of 14,543 square meters, the station can hold maximum 2,500 passengers, according to the Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd.(LCRC), a Vientiane-based joint venture in charge of the railway's construction and operation.
Since the start of the Vientiane Station in July this year, the CRCG project department has been simultaneously carrying out COVID-19 epidemic precaution measures and engineering construction.
Chinese and Lao engineers, overcoming the difficulties and the lengthy rainy season, have managed to accelerate the construction progresses and capped the station timely, safely and with high quality, local residents said.
The 422-km railway, with 198-km-long 75 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 project started in December 2016 and is scheduled to be completed and operational in December 2021.