Yangon Circular Railway

[Shimbleshanks]

Item on the BBC News website today about Yangon (Rangoon's) circular suburban railway.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25582061




Apples and orchids on Burma's slow train

9 hours ago

In Burma, the country also known as Myanmar, much has changed over the past three years.

Political reforms have been introduced and the South East Asian nation has started attracting new investment from around the world.

Some things, though, are taking a bit longer. And perhaps for once that lack of speed is not necessarily a bad thing.

Burma's railways date back more than 100 years, and they still have much of the charm associated with a slower pace of life.

Jonah Fisher took a ride on the Circular Line which goes all around the largest city Yangon, also known as Rangoon.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Yangon Central railway station was severely damaged by the British Army in their 1943 retreat in order to hamper the Japanese forces.

 

[Squaddie]

I travelled on the circular railway when I visited Burma in 2005. It was an interesting experience but very hot, very slow and very uncomfortable: not at all the romantic adventure I had imagined. And it took the best part of a day, not least because finding the correct ticket counter and the correct platform at central station was almost impossible.

My fellow passengers were eager to chat, though, as in those days very few tourists - and, especially, British tourists - made it to Burma. There was no internet, no mobile phone service and no cash machines.