It has been reported that an eight-year upgrading plan could result in a 100- kilometre-an-hour train service between Yangon and Mandalay. Deputy Minister for Transport U Myint Thein told the Amyotha Hluttaw that the project, to be carried out in cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), would start next year and be completed in 2023.

Measurements, soil tests and training had already begun for the work on the 616km (385-mile) route. U Myint Thein also told MPs that the government had spent K75.77 million so far this year to repair 54 railway stations across the country. Upgrading the country’s 960 stations would cost about K28.8 billion, he said, adding that the ministry had invited tenders for the upgrading of eight more stations.