Locals say they are worried about land grabs as the ground survey begins for the Mandalay-Muse railway line.

A Chinese company has started the ground survey for the construction of a Mandalay-Muse railroad line following a meeting in northern Shan State’s Muse town.

Representatives from the China Railway Engineering Group Co. Ltd met Burmese government officials in Muse on January 5. The next day, the ground survey commenced, and is expected to last until April 13. The project is a joint venture between the two countries’ governments.

In the coming days, the company will survey the area from Nawngkhio to Lashio, and from Lashio to Muse.

The railway will be Burma’s longest, at more than 430 kilometers long. It will require 77 bridges, as well as more than 100 kilometers of tunnels through mountains. The line will have seven stations for goods and five stations for passengers, as well as 24 junctions. Trains using the railway will be able to drive at 160 kilometers per hour—twice as fast as the current trains on the Yangon-Mandalay railway. Travel time from Mandalay to Muse is expected to be three hours.

Local farmers are concerned that they may not receive compensation for land lost in order to make way for the railroad.

“We need to closely monitor the situation and whether the government will seize our land like they did with the gas pipeline construction in the past,” one northern Shan State villager told SHAN, referring to the project to which the railroad will run parallel.

Speaking to SHAN on the condition of anonymity, an individual close to Burma’s peace process pointed out that the project is unfolding in a conflict zone.

“After construction of this railway is completed, I don’t know what will happen to the movement of armed groups in this area,” he said.