Bamboo Train in Battambang, Cambodia (Norry Ride / Nori Rail) ណូរី (Cambodia's Bamboo Train)

On the final day of the Khmer New Year we woke up early to take a tuk-tuk tour starting with a ride on the bamboo train (known as a norry or nori ណូរី) just outside of Battambang, Cambodia. Run by a six horse power engine, these makeshift improvised rail vehicles are made out of bamboo where a small mat is placed for sitting down. Being so low to the ground and running up to speeds of 50 kilometers an hour, you really feel as though you're humming along the old rickety tracks. During our journey we noticed many rural homes, animals (such as dogs, cats, cows and chickens) and Khmer locals.

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The scenic journey showcased numerous kinds of landscapes including farmland and lush green jungle. Along the way we made a stop at a small village where our bamboo train was turned around so that we could make the journey back on the same track. It's a good idea to go early before there are too many trains clogging the track. The cost is $5 per person and you can insist to have your own 'bamboo train' as opposed to sharing with others. It's well worth the ride!

A norry or nori (Khmer: ណូរី , from the French word for lorry) is an improvised rail vehicle from Cambodia. Lonely Planet describes it as "Cambodia's bamboo train". [1] The trains run at speeds of up to 50 km/h (31 mph) on the 1 m gauge tracks around Battambang and Poipet. A scheduled service run by the Government also operates but is slower and less reliable due to frequent derailments and breakdowns. The rest of the network, originally built by French colonial settlers, is largely abandoned since the Khmer Rouge regime effectively shut it down. In 2006 the BBC reported that there was only one scheduled service a week and it ran at not much more than walking pace.[2]

The bamboo train is a popular tourist attraction in Battambang
Norries have low fares, are frequent and relatively fast, so are popular despite their rudimentary design, lack of brakes, the state of the rails (often broken or warped) and lack of any formal operating regime.[2] Simple construction and light weight mean that the norry may be simply removed from the track -- if two meet on the line, the one with the lighter load is unloaded, lifted and carried round the other, and at the end of the line the vehicle is lifted and turned.[3]


Bamboo train (Norry) station near Battambang
There is some precedent for the Norry's popularity. In the 1980s and 1990s due to the civil war in Cambodia trains were led by an armed and armoured carriage; the first carriages of the train were flatbeds used as mine sweepers and travel on these was free for the first carriage and half-price for the second. These options were popular despite the obvious risks.[1]
Norry construction is a cottage industry conducted in trackside villages. It takes around four days to construct one of the vehicles, which have a steel frame overlaid with bamboo slats resting on wheels taken from abandoned tanks.[3]
Originally propelled by hand using punt poles, power is now provided by small motorcycle or tractor engines with belt drive direct to the rear axle, delivering top speeds of 40 km/h or more. Fuel is bought from villages along the route, supplied in glass jars and the flat-bedded vehicles will carry any load that will fit, including people, livestock, motorcycles and rice.[4]
In February 2008 a project was announced to rebuild the railway lines from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh to Poipet and on to Sisophon and the Thai border (a stretch completely destroyed by the Khmer Rouge regime). This was due to be completed at the end of 2009.[5] As of May 2011 this project has only completed from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville.[6]
As of May 2011 the Bamboo train appears to be the only train operating around the Battambang area, which can be observed by the completely overgrown tracks passing though the city. On the outskirts a tourist service operates for $5 per person to a village that has a brick factory. This is overseen by the local Tourist Police: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norry

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