The south of Myanmar was first connected to the Myanmar railway network in 1907. In this year the line from Bago reached Mottama where the large Salween River prevented a prolongation of the line further south. Between Bago and Mottama the Sittang River had to be crossed. Until 1962 the line ran from Abaya via Nyaungkashe to the shores of the Sittang River. It is unclear whether a railway bridge has existed right from the start or whether a ferry was used to cross the river at first. Later a bridge existed for sure however it was destroyed during WWII. In 1962 a bridge crossing the Sittang River was opened further north. Thus the old line remained unused and the part from Nyaungkashe to Mokepalin was retired. The remaining part Abaya - Nyaungkashe was still operated with self-made rail cars (see line S12 Abaya - Mokepalin) in 2011. The line from Bago to Mottama was the last railway line in Myanmar where steam locomotives operated. Until April 2008 goods trains between Mottama and Bago were mostly pulled by oil-fired YD-locos.

 

For nearly 80 years the railway lines south of Mawlamyaing (e.g. the line Mawlamyaing South - Ye) remained isolated. There was only a ferry connection for trajects over the Salween river which however could only be used throughout a few days every year due to missing river depth. This allowed trajects from rolling stock and locomotives between the isolated line Mawlamyaing South - Ye and the rest of the Myanmar railway network. Latest after the opening of the bridge crossing the Salween river in 2005 this line was removed. But I presume the line was already closed much earlier.

On the 5th of February 2005 finally a 3,223m long mixed road/railway bridge was opened between Mottama and Mawlamyaing. On both sides massive ramps had to be built. At the end of the ramp on the Mawlamyaing side a new station was opened. From there the line rans further south and connects to the line from Mawlamyaing South to Ye (see line Mawlamyaing South - Myeik).

 

The south of Myanmar is a small strip of land along a rugged coast line. Mountains reach to the coast line intercepted by mouthes of large rivers. Thus building a railway line through this difficult and not densely inhabitated terrain was not the first choice, even though rich resources were waiting in the mountains (e.g. the British operated several tin mines around Dawei). In April 1924 the line from Mawlamyaing South had reached Thanbyuzayat, one year later the city of Ye was reached. A further prolongation was never realized by the British. During WWII the line between Mawlamyaing South and Thanbyuzayat had highest strategic importance as the so-called "death railway" from Thailand built by the Japanese army ended up in Thanbyuzayat. Most of the rails which were used for the construction of the "death railway" were obtained by removing the section Thanbyuzayat - Ye. It is unknown to me when the section from Thanbyuzayat to Ye was rehabilitated. In the late 1990's a gas pipeline was built near Dawei in order to transport gas from offshore gas fields to Thailand. In order to support the construction works the railway line from Ye was prolongated to Dawei. The first part of the prolongation was an isolated line from Dawei to Yephu which was opened in 1995. One year later the section Ye - Kallogyi was opened followed by the last missing link between kallogyi and Yephu two years later. A further prolongation further south towards Myeik is planned and under construction. In addition Thailand plans to build a large deep sea port in Dawei which should be connected to Thailand by building a new railway line. This would link the Myanmar railway network, which is currently not connected to any of the networks in its surrounding countries, with the Thai network for a second time, as the death railway connecting Myanmar and Thailand during WWII was removed on the Myanmar side right after the war.

 

This line connected the fertile plains between the Bago and Sittang river. Construction started in 1922, six years later the city of Thongwa was reached. After WWII the line was removed as the material was required to rehabilitate more important lines that were destroyed during the war. In 1998 plans emerged to rehabilitate the line plus building a prolongation from Thongwa to Okkphusu were the line will connect to the existing line Togyaunggale - Thilawa Deep Sea Port. The first part of the prolongation from Okkphusu to the newly built Thanlyin University was already opened. Whether work on the prolongation and rehabilitation of the removed lines have started is unknown to me.

 

This line had initially been part of the line from Bago to Mottama. Whether there had been a railway bridge between Sittang West and Sittang East is unclear. On Google Maps you can clearly see remaining pillars of a bridge in the river. But I don't know whether this has been a railway bridge. After building a bridge crossing the Sittang river further north the line lost its importance. The section Nyaungkashe - Mokepalin was retired, but the section Abaya - Nyaungkashe remained a branch and is still operated with self made diesel rail cars from Bago.

 

In 2005 the military government decided to move the capital from Yangon to Naypitaw in the center of Myanmar. In order to run direct trains between Naypitaw and Western Myanmar (Mawlamyaing, Dawei) without changing direction at Bago this branch was constructed.

 

The history of this line starts quite early. Already in 1885 a light railway was built between Thaton and Duyinzeik using 762mm gauge. The purpose for building the line remains unknown to me. Some 20 years after opening the line was already closed, the locos where sold to the Madaya Light Railway which operated in 762mm north of Mandalay until it was regauged to 1,000mm in 1927. The line from Thaton to Duyinzeik was forgotten until the Myanmar government decided to build a new railway line to Duyinzeik which was opened on the 31st of December 1984. West of Thaton large limestone formations can be found and thus a cement factory was built at Myaingalay which was connected to the railway network in 1988 by prolongating the line from Duyinzeik to Myaingalay. The line was in a very bad state when I visited the nearby city of Hpa-An in 2007. Passenger operations is handled using self-made diesel railcars.

 

This line is the Myanmar part of the famous "Death railway" well-know from the book and film "The bridge on the river Kwai". After the Japanese had conquered most of Southeast Asia they planned to attack the British troops in India by conquering Myanmar first. In order to ensure supply of their troops the Japanese planned to connect the Thai with the Myanmar railway network. In 1903 the British had already planned a connection between Thanbyuzayat and Thailand. Around 50.000 prisoners of war and uncounted local population were forced to built the line in very short time, more than 100.000 people died during the construction. The rails used for this line were removed from other railway lines in Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. The line branched of at Ban Pong on the line Bangkok - Hat Yai - Padang Besar and cut through dense jungle. The mountain range between Thailand and Myanmar was crossed at the "Three Pagoda Pass" near Payathouzou. From there the line went down to Thanbyuzayat on the line from Mawlamyaing South to Ye. The line was opened on the 17th of October 1943. The railway network of Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia was now connected to the Myanmar railway network. Several steam locomotives from Thailand and Malaysia went to Myanmar and vice versa. Right after the end of WWII traffic stopped on the line and the section on the Myanmar side was retired. In Thailand the line remained operational for some time, however when a huge water dam was built the line between Nam Tok and the border to Myanmar was flooded and not replaced by a new line. The section from ban Pong to Nam Tok remains operational by the State Railway of Thailand, mainly for tourist who want to take a ride on the death railway. With closing of the line myanmar lost its only railway connection to its neighbouring countries. There were plans by the Myanmar government to rebuild the line, however Thailand favours building a railway line from Bangkok directly to Dawei as Thailand plans to build a deep seawater port at Dawei.