Lao trainees pose for a group photo in Vientiane South Station of the China-Laos Railway in Laos, Dec. 25, 2021. With all 66 Lao trainees passing an examination for assistant train drivers on Saturday, the China-Laos Railway is inducting its first group of Lao train drivers. (Photo by Wang Enling/Xinhua)

With all 66 Lao trainees passing an examination for assistant train drivers on Saturday, the China-Laos Railway is inducting its first group of Lao train drivers.

According to the Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd. (LCRC), which is responsible for the operation of the Lao section of the China-Laos Railway, the company has been speeding up local talent development since the inauguration of the railway in December last year.

Through the study of theories as well as one-on-one internship on the train, the trainees have mastered relevant knowledge and accumulated abundant driving experiences, the LCRC told Xinhua on Sunday.

After about half a year of intensive training, all 66 Lao trainees have respectively taken on duties on the EMU (electric multiple unit), the passenger and freight trains, and special engineering locomotives for over 10,000 km.

According to the LCRC, a joint venture based in the Lao capital Vientiane, the 66 Lao assistant train drivers will firstly go to work with Chinese train drivers, and the Lao crews will work independently in the future.