The railway has carried more than 50 million passengers
According to the Kunming Bureau of China Railway, since the operation of China-Laos Railway, as of March 28, 2025, a total of 71,000 passenger trains have been operated, sending more than 50 million passengers, attracting more than 480,000 passengers from 112 countries and regions around the world to travel by international passenger trains, playing an important role in promoting regional economic development and cultural exchanges.
The volume and quality of passenger transport have increased, facilitating the travel of people along the route
Since the beginning of this year, China-Laos railway passenger travel has maintained strong demand, from January 1 to March 28, a total of 5.4 million passengers have been sent, an average of 62,000 passengers per day; Among them, 82,000 cross-border passengers, the daily average of more than 1,000 people, the highest daily 1,300 people.
In order to meet the travel needs of passengers, since the opening of the China-Laos railway, the railway department has actively adapted to the growing travel needs of passengers, accurately put in capacity, enrich passenger products, and optimize station and train services, and the passenger volume of the China-Laos railway has continued to grow, and the monthly passenger volume of the whole line has increased from 600,000 passengers in the initial opening to the current 1.6 million passengers. The average daily number of passenger trains in China's domestic segment has increased from 8 to a maximum of 86, with a total of 41.15 million passengers. In the Laos section, the daily number of passenger trains has increased from 4 in the initial period to a maximum of 16, and the number of ordinary speed passenger trains has been expanded to more than 10, with a total of more than 8.85 million passengers.
At present, the international passenger trains running from Kunming South to Vientiane and from Xishuangbanna to Luang Prabang have increased the number of cross-border passenger seats per passenger train from 250 to 390, and the number of inbound and outbound passengers has increased from 300 to a maximum of 1,300 per day, providing great convenience for tourists to travel, study and do business across the border.
The radiation effect has been significantly enhanced, promoting people-to-people exchanges and integration
Connecting Kunming and Xishuangbanna in China and Luang Prabang and Vientiane in Laos, the China-Laos Railway is a major international corridor connecting China and Laos. Since its opening, the China-Laos Railway has quickly become a "golden route" connecting China and Southeast Asia with its efficient and convenient transportation advantages, colorful ethnic cultures and beautiful food attractions. Attracted a large number of domestic and foreign tourists to come to experience.
The railway departments of China and Laos have actively cooperated with the tourism departments of the two countries to promote the integrated development of "railway + tourism". They have opened a number of tourist routes between Kunming and Vientiane, operated the cross-border "Star · Lancang-Mekong" comfort tourist train, and adopted the model of "domestic tourism special train + international passenger train", and organized several China-Laos cross-border tour groups to Laos. Tourism companies around the country compete to launch Laos tourism products, bringing fire along the scenic spots, hotels, catering and other tourism-related industries, accelerating the flow of passengers, logistics, capital flow, information flow, and provide a "new engine" for economic development along the line. During the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush in 2025, 42,000 inbound and outbound tourists were admitted at the Mohan Railway port, an increase of 49 percent year-on-year.
The service connotation is improved and upgraded, and the passenger experience is better
Railway departments of China and Laos continue to optimize station and train services, introduce a number of measures to benefit the people, and create "train food on the tips of the tongue". The train specializes in providing a variety of Dai flavor short ribs, sour bamboo shoots and beef, pineapple rice and other local specialties, and innovatively launch "One Way coffee" China-Laos friendship brand coffee. To meet the different regions and different eating habits of tourists for tea, coffee, fruit drinks personalized choice range. Stations and trains along the way are equipped with language translation equipment, providing travel service information broadcasting services in Chinese, old and English languages and Dai language services. In particular, in order to meet the payment needs of passengers from different countries and different age levels taking the China-Laos railway passenger trains, the railway department has set up "special Windows" for international passengers to purchase tickets at stations along the China-Laos railway, and has set up ATM deposit and withdrawal machines and POS payment terminals to provide convenience for ticket purchase and payment for the elderly, foreign nationals in China and other groups. The train is specially equipped with an electronic arm sphygmomanometer, which is convenient for passengers in need to measure their blood pressure in real time, grasp their physical condition in advance, provide convenience for the journey, and constantly improve the passenger experience.