22 May 2012

Section of wartime railway to be restored

5:31 am on 22 May 2012

The Myanmar government wants to restore a stretch of the infamous 'Death Railway' built by prisoners of the Japanese during World War II.

The railway was immortalised in the film The Bridge on the River Kwai.

An estimated 13,000 prisoners of war and at least 80,000 civilians died of abuse, malnutrition and disease during the 14 months it took to build the original line in Burma. The bridge was destroyed by Allied bombers in 1945.

The railway minister says a feasibility study on a 105km stretch is scheduled to begin in October.