VIENTIANE - The Chinese railway engineering company has drilled through three China-Laos railway tunnels in northern Laos in this December.

The railway engineering company -- China Railway Guangzhou Engineering Group (CREC-GZ) completed the China-Laos Railway Muangxay No 1 Tunnel on Wednesday, 74 days ahead of schedule, along with Nam Nouan No 2 Tunnel and Ban Thin No 1 Tunnel in this December.

The Muangxay No 1 goes through a length of 3,376 meters, with a relative height difference of 192 meters, under an undulating terrain.

Affected by high ground temperature, the temperature in the tunnel can always stay at 37 degrees Celsius, which creates harsh conditions for the Chinese engineering team.

The China-Laos railway has holed through 49 tunnels so far till the completion of Muangxay No 1 Tunnel, out of its 76 tunnels with a total length of 198 km.

The railway is a strategic docking project between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub.

The 414.332-km railway, with 198-km tunnels and 62-km bridges, will run from the Boten border gate in northern Laos, bordering China, to Vientiane with an operating speed of 160 km per hour.

The electrified passenger and cargo railway is built with the full application of Chinese management and technical standards.

The project started in December 2016 and is scheduled to be completed and opened in December 2021.