ສະຖານີລົດໄຟຫຼວງພະບາງ Luang Prabang Station — Local services in Luang Prabang

This thing is a disgrace to any decent train network.

the social: the project was built by the Chinese, but it is mainly financed through loans that Laos took out. However, 70% of the railway is owned by China. Laos has significantly increased its debt to China, but benefits only very little from the project. The money for the construction also went to China and not to local companies. People had to be relocated for the construction, many of whom are still waiting for promised compensation to this day.

"Security": it is absolute madness to do a security check for a train journey. It's clear that you don't have to travel with firearms or machetes, but a pocket knife should be in every luggage. The fact that you cannot take liquids with you is also unacceptable. No water for the journey (yes it can be bought expensively on the train), no anti mosquito spray and no sunscreen. If you could give up these "bad" items, like on the plane, the whole thing would be a little less bad, unfortunately that's not possible. And for anyone who has a problem about the knife, throughout Europe (absolute gold standard for trains...not you Germany :) ) you can take knives on a train without security checks.

"Function": the trains are extremely slow for a modern high-speed connection. Not every train has to reach the speed of the real bullet train in Japan, but anything under 200 km/h is not high speed. The cars themselves are, typical of China, below standard. There is a lack of space and comfort. The network is only built with one lane, which may seem ok now, but will cause problems in the future. Most people in Los are poor. What the population here needs is not a high-speed train, but a reliable train network with cheap tickets and the ability to transport a...

We arranged to catch the 10:31am train from Luang Prabang to Vientiane. In spite of the rather complicated pre-amble we read about ‘applying for/lining up for tickets “only 3 days in advance”, we downloaded the App 12Go and booked out seats a couple of weeks in advance. They charged our Visa in €’s but not an issue.

We were sent confirmations some days later with QR Codes and Assigned Seats. We DID NOT have to “line up” or “pick up” paper tickets “ahead of time” as we had been led to believe or read about. Any fears that we had (and there were several) were ALL unfounded.

The Train Station is a good 30 minute drive out of town so make sure you leave early as it’s best to also be at the Station 90 minutes before your departure time.

In spite of a number of some negative comments regarding the screening process upon arrival, we had zero issues. We put all sprays, shaving creams, hair mousse and even a screw-model wine bottle opener all in one larger zip-lock bag. We put all 3 small suitcases and one large hockey-like soft bag + 2 small backpacks and a sling on the conveyor belt. Naturally, we were not surprised when they pulled aside one of the smaller backpacks that contained the zip-lock bag.

They went through it and only took away one spray-tan bottle which clearly had a hazard warning on. They did not even confiscate the cork screw. The staff were extremely pleasant and friendly and explained in English what they were doing and why.

A very good looking Train Station with clean toilets and facilities for buying coffee, tea, snacks etc

The train schedule is on a large highly visible and easily understandable format in 3 alternating languages. The train number (eg. C97), Platform Number, Boarding Time and Time of Departure and...

Train service was great but today it was a nightmare for my family when we came down to the parking area where we left the car for couple of nights. Since we pay per night we expect the security to lock the wheels which they do every time but I found that there was no lock and two Tyre punctured, looks like some one let the air out. I always check and keep the car in tip top condition when I leave as when we get back it’s easier and safer. I complain to the security and ask why and they just walk away, no help and just wanted the money and blame it to my car that it might be the problem. I was anger by then and ask why is the wheels not lock like others and why my wheels caps are open, he just look the other side which is in good condition with everything right and just walk away. Lucky my friends came from the city to help out and I drove out from there. After I drove out the hopeless security told my friends that my family is very anger and to tell us never to park our car there again. I am wondering what have we done wrong as we pay money to keep our cars there for safety and is the train station his?? Such a lowly staff with this kind of attitude should not be allowed to work where people from every walk of life travel and pass through. I wish there was a person in charge to whom we can share...