Bamboo train, Battambang, Cambodia - 2005

The bamboo choo-choo

Story & pictures by LIZ PRICE


THE STAR L I F E S T Y L E
Travel & Adventure
Saturday July 23, 2005


When asked if I wanted to ride on the bamboo train, I had no idea what was in store. The picture that came to mind was of a cute toy train with bamboo carriages.

I was in Battambang province in northwest Cambodia and had spent the day visiting the killing fields of the Pol Pot regime, as well as temples, a rice processing factory and various other attractions.


It costs just RM1 to get from one station to another on the bamboo train of Battambang

From my hotel in Battambang, I hired a motorbike and driver for a mere RM23, for a seven-hour trip.

We crossed a river using a narrow suspension bridge. This was upstream of the Stung Sangker, or Sangker River, which flows through the centre of Battambang. Despite being Cambodia’s second largest city, Battambang has a laid-back atmosphere. It is an elegant riverside town with French period architecture.

We were heading west, out of town, in the direction of the Thai border. We stopped at a wat to look at the fruit bats in the trees. The bats living here are protected by the monks. Without this protection, they would be hunted and eaten. From the wat, it was quite a muddy ride through small villages and along the river. I thought we were going back to the hotel and was surprised when we came to a railway line.

I was told this was the bamboo railway but could see no sign of a train, and there were definitely no cute bamboo carriages. I got off the bike and walked in the drizzle to the station. There were quite a few people bustling around and lots of goods waiting to be transported. I wondered how long we would have to wait for the train to arrive. I knew that the train service in Cambodia was fairly primitive and incredibly slow.

Train travel is cheap, but patience is required. The trains travel at an average speed of 20kph and unscheduled stops because of mechanical problems are not uncommon. We were on the main railway line from Phnom Penh to Poipet, the border town. The French built this single-track, metre-gauge line in the 1920s. They used it to carry coffee and bananas to the city.

The first tiny steam engines were replaced later by more powerful steam locomotives. But during the Khmer Rouge regime, the trains were destroyed. The tracks were spared but became overgrown with jungle. After the civil war, the locals cleared the rails and the line was back in operation again.


It is made up of a metal frame with bamboo slats, two axles with wheels and a motorcycle or tractor engine.

The 274km journey from Battambang to Phnom Penh takes around 15 hours. The train runs up one day and down the next day. Whilst I was contemplating the speed of the train, the penny suddenly dropped. I realised that I had been looking at the bamboo train without recognising it.

The Battambang bamboo train (or norry in Cambodian) is, in fact, a metal frame with bamboo slats that sit on two axles with wheels. It is used to transport people and goods up and down the railway.

After the days of the Khmer Rouge, the land mines were cleared from the tracks, and the local residents built dozens of these miniature trains. It was interesting to watch the contraption, 3ft (1m) x 8ft (2.4m), being assembled. Two young men appeared, carrying two steel axles with cast-iron wheels at both ends. These were placed on the track – a perfect fit.

Next, a metal frame with the bamboo slats was positioned atop the axles. The engine sits on top, linked to the wheels by a rubber drive wheel. To brake, the driver turns the engine off and coasts to a stop.

The older trains don’t have a metal frame. There is instead a long bamboo mat. The axles fit into two steel forks on the underside of the mat. The mat sits atop the wheels. The train is driven by a motorcycle or tractor engine. Gasoline is available at village crossings, sold in glass whiskey bottles. In the past, men used poles to push the train along.

It runs about 10km up and down the line, and costs 1,000riel (RM 1) between stations. As the regular train only goes up one day and down the next, there is no danger of collision.


An old French station.

However, if two trains do meet, the lighter one is simply taken off the rails to allow the other to pass.

I was lucky as one train was being loaded when we arrived. Before I really grasped what was happening, people jumped aboard and a few men started pushing it whilst running along behind. And off went the bamboo train.

The old French station would have been elegant in its day. Today, it is used as a store for the train parts. The rain continued, and somehow both my shorts and T-shirt had got plastered in mud underneath my poncho. But it was worth it as I had seen the Battambang bamboo train.