Bamboo Trains of Cambodia
For
years, travellers in Cambodia had to deal with one of the world's worst train
networks. Trains run infrequently in between the villages, break-downs and
derailments are common, and the trains themselves travel at little more than
walking pace. So people in the north west of the country, near Cambodia's
second city of Battambang, have taken matters into their own hands. They have
created their own rail service using pieces of bamboo and abandoned barbell
like train wheels. The locals call the vehicles "Norries", but
overseas visitors know them as "bamboo trains".
Each
bamboo train consists of a 3m-long wood frame, covered lengthwise with slats
made of ultra-light bamboo, that rests on two barbell-like bogies. A repurposed
water-pump or gasoline engine transfers power to the rear wheels by means of
belts. These rickety contraptions can haul twenty or more people over the aging
rails at speeds nearing 40 km/h, with the track just a couple of inches below
the passengers. Warped and broken rails make for a bone-shaking journey.
But
the drivers insist it is a safe form of transport.
"I
use the bamboo trains to go to Battambang from my house in Phnom Teppedey so I
can buy medicine," said Sao Nao as she sits on the rails with a small
group of people, waiting for a norri to depart. "They're very safe - a
motorbike taxi is too fast, and if I use one of those I sometimes get dizzy and
fall off. On a bamboo train I can sit down and go to sleep. You can't do that
on a motorbike."
And what happens when a bamboo train meets another
bamboo train coming the opposite way? The answer is simple: whichever car has
the least amount of passengers is quickly lifted off the tracks to allow the
other to pass. They are then reassembled, engine restarted and on their way
they go. It can be done with a minute. The importance of urgent bamboo train
removal is of interest should a real train come your way.
Bamboo
trains have become an unofficial part of the Cambodian transport system. They
provide a link between villages and a means of transport for both people and
goods in areas otherwise unserved. They are also a means of income for many as
rich tourists pay up to $2/day to ride them. In Cambodia, that can equal two
months wages to most citizens.
The
bamboo trains were once found outside of numerous provincial towns anywhere
railroad tracks had been laid. It was possible to take the bamboo trains from
Battambang to Phnom Penh. Now, with the ongoing renovations to the national
train line causing tracks to be torn up, and authorities less permissive of
unofficial use, the bamboo trains are disappearing. The norry outside of
Battambang are the last in existence.
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