The Mekong River Railway Bridge is a proposed railway bridge between Thailand and Laos. The bridge will have 2 tracks of meter-gauge and 2 tracks of standard-gauge for the Bangkok-Nong Khai high-speed railway.
The 4-track railway bridge will be 30 metres away on the downstream side of the First Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge. The metre-gauge on the First Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge will be removed when the new bridge is built.
The design of the new bridge is expected to be completed in September 2025, construction is expected to begin in Q3 2026, and the bridge is expected to open in 2029.
Some media outlets are calling the bridge “2nd Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge, Nong Khai-Vientiane”. There is already a 2nd Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge, so this name is needlessly confusing. I have named this page “Mekong River Railway Bridge” until the official name is announced.
Images
Concept images of the Mekong River Railway Bridge (not final).
[First Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge and Mekong River Railway Bridge.]
[Metre-gauge and standard-gauge tracks on Mekong River Railway Bridge.]
[Mekong River Railway Bridge (view from Thailand side).]
[Mekong River Railway Bridge (view from Laos side).]
News archive
2025
The “Mekong River Railway-High-Speed Bridge” will be built next year (2026) and will open in 2029 – [30/01/25]
[Original article at dailynews.co.th, translation via Southeast Asia Railways Group.]
The State Railway of Thailand is accelerating the detailed design of the “Mekong River Railway Bridge” with 4 tracks to support trains and high-speed trains. It is expected to be completed this September. Construction of the first phase will begin next year and it will open for service in 2029. It will highlight “Lan Xang Art”, the cultural roots shared between Thailand and Laos. The nameplates on both sides of the bridge will be designed to welcome visitors with friendliness.
The Daily News Transportation Innovation News Team reported that the construction of the new Mekong River Bridge, which is part of the Nong Khai-Vientiane railway connection project in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), is still under the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) study of the detailed design and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report, with a budget of approximately 119 million baht.
Previously, the Department of Highways (DOH) had studied the economic, engineering, and environmental impacts of the project. The construction project of the 2nd Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, Nong Khai-Vientiane, has been completed. It is expected that the SRT will study the detailed design and complete it by September 2025. It will then be submitted to the SRT Board, the Ministry of Transport, and the Cabinet for consideration.
Initially, it will be the construction of 2 new bridges, along with the renovation of the current bridge to be a car-only bridge. Phase 1 will construct a new railway bridge on the downstream side of the current bridge, 30 meters away from the original bridge, as a 4-track railway bridge (2 tracks of 1-meter gauge railways and 2 tracks of 1.435-meter standard gauge high-speed railways), along with renovation of the existing bridge. The construction period is approximately 36 months, starting construction in approximately 2026, and will be completed and open for service in 2029. Phase 2 will construct a new car bridge on the north side of the current bridge, adding 2 more traffic lanes to the 2 traffic lanes of the original bridge, making it 4 traffic lanes. (2 lanes per direction) Construction period approximately 30 months, construction starts around 2041, construction is completed and open for service in 2044.
The design of the railway will be an additional design from the high-speed rail project, Phase 2, Nakhon Ratchasima – Nong Khai section, which is designed to cross the Mekong River bridge ending at the bank on the Thai side, kilometer 622 + 004.141 of the 1-meter railway (nearly 1 km north of Nong Khai railway station). The project will design a continuous bridge across the Mekong River. When entering the Lao PDR side, the 1-meter railway will deviate to connect to the original railway. The standard railway will end at the foot of the bridge on the Lao PDR side to connect in the future. However, for the structural form of the new Mekong River bridge, it was initially found that the Balanced Cantilever Bridge is the most appropriate form.
In addition, the architectural design of the bridge nameplates on both sides has been initially designed, combining Lan Xang art, including beautiful and meaningful architecture, as a symbol of friendly welcome, respect and continuation of valuable artistic heritage. Including the shared cultural roots between Thailand and Laos. However, for this railway bridge, it will be a bridge connecting Thailand, Laos, China and Vietnam, reflecting the sustainable connectivity between countries in this region as well.
Construction begins in 2026! New railway bridge “Nong Khai-Vientiane” connects high-speed rail “Thailand-Laos-China – [30/01/25]
[Original article at mgronline.com, translation via Southeast Asia Railways Group.]
“Design progress of the new railway bridge across the Mekong River “Nong Khai-Vientiane” expected to be completed in September 2025, construction begins in Q3 2026, opens in 2029, reveals “bridge nameplate” design, emphasizing mixed architecture, reflecting the connection between Thailand and Laos.”
2023
Agency predicts completion of railway bridge by 2029 – [06/12/23]
“The Neighbouring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency (Neda) expects the new bridge facilitating the Thailand-China high-speed train project’s crossing between Thailand and Laos to be completed by 2029.”
PM Srettha proposes new railway bridge to Laos – [30/10/23]
“Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin visited Laos on Monday and proposed that the two countries build a new railway bridge to facilitate bilateral trade.”
2022
Laos, Thailand and China to construct new railway bridge for freight – [22/09/22]
“…Laos, Thailand, and China are thinking about building a new railway bridge, running parallel to the first Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge, to assist in the cross-border transport of containers.”
Thailand to build new Rrilway bridge to Laos – [17/01/22]
“The Thai government has ordered the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) design and build a new bridge from Nong Khai Province to Laos in order to connect the country to the Laos-China Railway.”
SRT gets green light to build rail bridge to Laos – [15/01/22]
“The cabinet has ordered the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) to quickly design and build a second bridge from Nong Khai province to Laos, to connect to the new China-Laos railway.”
So more tracksuit than passenger trains hopefully a lot of freight to maximise the benefits of this expenditure
Originally proposed as a freight bridge for container traffic, it makes sense to have the bridge designed for freight and passenger. The articles only refer to freight on the 1m gauge lines. While there is a transfer yard in Vientianne for containers from standard gauge to 1m gauge it does not make sense to make the High Speed standard gauge Nong Khao-Bangkok line a passenger only line and forgo the higher speed container transits possible. After all even the UK’s 300kph HS1 Continental Main Line carries international freight at night!