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The Lane Xang EMU train passes by the China-Laos borderline inside a tunnel, Oct. 15, 2021. (Photo by Cao Anning/Xinhua)

According to the China State Railway Group, the new train, with the maximum operating speed of 160 km per hour, consists of nine carriages, including a locomotive, a dining coach, a first-class and six second-class coaches, and has altogether 720 seats. It will be put into a trial run soon.

The dream of the Lao people to transform the land-locked country into a land-linked hub in the region is coming true as the streamlined "China-standard" bullet train for the China-Laos railway arrived in Lao capital Vientiane on Saturday.

The electric multiple unit (EMU) train was officially delivered to the Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd., a joint venture in charge of the railway's construction and operation, at a handover ceremony in the newly-built China-Laos Railway Vientiane Station with the attendance of Chinese Ambassador to Laos Jiang Zaidong and Lao Minister of Public Works and Transport Viengsavath Siphandone.

"I am so excited. It was a historic moment for the first passenger train traveling along the China-Laos Railway has arrived in Laos," Sangthong Hangponsawang, a 29-year-old man who is an online English tutor living in Vientiane, told Xinhua.

"I believe that the railway will benefit Laos a lot given its significant role in bolstering tourism and the transport of goods," said Sangthong, adding "Our country is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. The Belt and Road Initiative is a golden opportunity for our country to transform into a land-link hub in the region."

"Better roads and public services like the railway will attract more investment from overseas," he said.