April 29, 2026
YANGON – Over 100 miles of railway tracks in Kachin State are being repaired under a 100-day project .
The railway is a 110-mile journey from Myitkyina to Moehnyin, with over 163 miles of track and 33 stations.
Currently, preparations have begun from the Myitkyina side and have reached the 12th station, Mingone Station .
One of the people involved in the repair work said , “The rails are missing some of the muli chaung and some of the slats. They are damaged. We will be able to cross to the Moheyn side by mid-May. The slats have been installed in the areas where the bridge was demined. It will take a long time to reinforce it. They are not being disturbed by anyone at the moment. I am afraid, I am afraid.”
A resident of Hopin said that the clips on the steel bars that hold the rails together on most of the road from Myitkyina to Mandalay have been stolen and removed gradually since the political changes in 2021.
A resident of Yin Ho Bin said, “Here, only the city center, the military base, and the police station are left. There is not a single clip left along the road leading to Moe Hnyin and the Nan Khun. The railway is not broken. It is made of nine pieces of wire, so it is very heavy. The little ones have been taking it away for a long time.”
U Sai Lin, who earns his living through agriculture in Moehnyin Township, said that once the railway is completed, it will greatly benefit the flow of goods for Myitkyina District, which has a population of over 500,000, and Moehnyin District, which has a population of over 600,000.
“Now the fare to Myitkyina is 100,000. The train used to cost 10,000 for a round trip. Food and supplies are being sent from here to Tanai, Phakant, and Indawgyi. I would like to tell no group to destroy the railway,” he said.
Since the political change on February 1, 2021, the Mae Za-Thae Chaung railway line, the Moehnyin Nant Ryn Chaung road bridge, the Mawlu Si Pain road bridge, No. 555 between Kadu-Mawhan Station, the Thawet Chaung railway line and road bridge from Hopin to Myitkyina, and the Wet Kone roadblock outside Hopin have been mined.
According to records, railways were built from Sagaing to Shwebo in 1891, to Wantho in 1893, to Katha in 1895, to Mogaung in 1897, and to Myitkyina in 1898. The Sagaing Bridge, which was started in 1927 and completed in 1934, developed transportation services for Upper Burma.