Work to begin on Thai - Japan "Bullet Train" in 2019

[rooster59]

Work to begin on Thai - Japan "Bullet Train" in 2019

 

Image: Daily News

 

Building work on the first leg of the Thai-Japan "Shinkansen" or Bullet Train is set to begin as early as 2019.

 

The first stage of the line from Bangkok to Phitsanulok is reckoned to begin service in 2022.

 

Ultimately the line will connect Bangkok and Chiang Mai slashing journey times.

 

The project is a joint operation between Thai and Japanese government agencies. Plans are now in the final stages of approval but communication minister Akhom Termpithayaphaisit was upbeat as he chaired the official project launch at the Sofitel hotel in Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok on Friday.

 

There will be six stations on the initial stage of the line - Bang Sue, Don Meuang, Ayutthaya, Lopburi, Nakorn Sawan and Phitsanulok .

 

In addition Bang Seu will be developed as a hub and yard.

 

Japanese ambassador Shiro Sadoshima said that the Japanese have worldwide renown in train technology and reliability and would train the Thai staff to a high standard. He said that the "Shinkansen (bullet train) service would be a model of time keeping and safety.

 

The first stage to Phitsanulok is costing in the region of 276 billion baht. 

 

Daily News did not give details of the continuing section that will be built to Chiang Mai.

 

Source: Daily News

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-11-18

[blackcab]

How much will the tickets cost? Will the tickets be cheaper than catching a plane? Will the train be faster than a plane?

 

How is the maintenance going to be funded?

[berybert]

15 minutes ago, blackcab said:

How much will the tickets cost? Will the tickets be cheaper than catching a plane? Will the train be faster than a plane?

 

How is the maintenance going to be funded?

"So many questions and my tracks have yet to be laid" said Thomas.

[leeneeds]

Very good, more money spent on infrastructure ,the less their will be in the pot for military spending on unnecessary hardware, that are a waste of tax money, (air ship, sub, ) and I am sure many more examples of wastage, Another journey by train I look forward to  making.

[Bob12345]

3 minutes ago, leeneeds said:

Very good, more money spent on infrastructure ,the less their will be in the pot for military spending on unnecessary hardware, that are a waste of tax money, 

(air ship, sub, ) and I am sure many more examples of wastage,

If you took a look at the government budgets over the past years you would notice that the budget for the armed forces is going up every year.

So while I agree that a lot of the military spending is a waste, I think they will save money from elsewhere to have both new air ships, submarines, tanks, AND a high speed train.

[NanLaew]

...and will the last bit to Japan be by undersea tunnel or long-assed bridge?

[NCC1701A]

" Japanese ambassador Shiro Sadoshima said that the Japanese have worldwide renown in train technology and reliability and would train the Thai staff to a high standard."

 

if the Japanese take a workforce of four year old Thai kids to live in Japan, in 20 years they should be ready.

[George Bowman]

The Bamboo Grapevine is rift on where this train station will be located in Phitsanulok. But, no one really knows.

[flyingdoc]

Sounds good.  Progress on the new Super Highway from BKK to Udon Thani is certainly going ahead in leaps and bounds, with a new major Service Station at Pak Chong, so if this is anything to go by, it should be delivered on time!

[anon467848]

There will be lots of government officials rubbing their hands with glee on the back of this giant project.. New houses, Benz, BMW....

[harada]

Brown envelope manufacturers will be busy over the next couple of years.

[dotpoom]

And there was me thinking it was a train from Thailand to Japan (something like the Euro tunnel) after reading the headline.

[jaiyen]

Oh !  I thought we were going to get a crappy Chinese train system.

[Jeremy50]

Wait a minute, don't people just take a plane if they want to 'slash journey times'? Isn't taking the night train at a leisurely pace really rather nice?

25000 people dying on the roads annually, but never mind, let's build a bullet train so folks can get to Phitsanulok quicker. A rather peaceful slow-moving town renowned for it's famous bhudda and house boats . And such a staggering sum of money, even half of which could completely transform road safety. However, skim even a modest 15% off the top, and I think we can all see where the blind, arrogant, and stupid motivation is coming from.

[twizzian]

 

Will the driver be professionally trained & or have a lot of experience just like the bus drivers here?

Will the train be maintained & brakes fixed to the stds that we know here?

Then I just might!

[alant]

How many start dates and in use dates have we heard so far when it comes to rail projects.

Just about the only thing that was put into action promptly was the ban on alcohol enforced on innocent passengers when an evil subcontractor of the state railways raped and murdered a poor lass.

[Colabamumbai]

What happened with the Chinese on the train plans?

[spidermike007]

Countries that look into the future, work on large infrastructure projects. This is a big step for Thailand. The railway has been substandard for decades. Bangkok has fantastic mass transit. It would be a good thing to bring that to the rest of the nation, and a great thing, to have viable alternatives to air travel, as the airports seem to be operating at near capacity. This is visionary stuff. So what if it costs a fortune. Thailand has the money to pull this off. Just have to wean the military a bit. Not like they have major battles to fight. Well, at least when one excludes the will of the public. 

[Ossy]

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Ultimately the line will connect Bangkok and Chiang Mai slashing journey times

Oh shucks! The title calls it the Thai - Japan bullet train, but it's only gonna reach Chiang Mai. And there was me, thinking that I'd be able to take the train all the way to Japan to collect my gleaming R1 from the Yamaha factory and bring it back with me … in the guard's van . . . remember those? Misinformation, again!

Edited November 18, 2017 by Ossy
correction

[steven100]

Great news. Well done Thailand & the Thai government who fast tracked this HPRP to get it through.

To the TV nayers who continue to rabbit on that Thailand is going down hil ... bla ... bla .... bla ..     Your wrong again .....

[Orton Rd]

Thailand will NEVER reach the standards of the Japanese in anything. This week a Japanese rail line apologized for a train leaving 20 seconds early, can't see a Thai company ever getting the trains to leave within 20 minutes of the timetable.

[flynn]

Recently been on a 15 day bullet train trip around japan, it’s the way to go, business like seats, the advantages over air travel is that it takes the hassle out of getting to the airport hours before your flight, no bag scanning, drops you of in the centre of town, always on time, if the Thais can follow the Japanese lead it would be a success, I would use it,

[Toshiba66]

4 minutes ago, flynn said:

Recently been on a 15 day bullet train trip around japan, it’s the way to go, business like seats, the advantages over air travel is that it takes the hassle out of getting to the airport hours before your flight, no bag scanning, drops you of in the centre of town, always on time, if the Thais can follow the Japanese lead it would be a success, I would use it,

Couldn't agree more. A truly superb way to get from A to B. I hope they do follow the Japanese way. 

[generealty]

Anyone who has lived here for a few years knows how often trains derail and sometimes with tragic consequences. I for one will never entertain getting on a train capable of over 100 miles an hour due to the poorly maintained rail-tracks in this part of the world. A catastrophe waiting to happen.

[blazes]

Yes, I would want to be persuaded that the rail tracks were built to European standards, with no  possible human intrusion on to the tracks.  Or even better, to Japanese standards, allowing for extreme speed without any possibility of collisions with buffalos or pick-up trucks....

[RichardColeman]

Unless every crossing in the country is staffed by round the clock guards to stop idiot car and truck and bike drivers, then this project is totally doomed to failure before it begins.

[Elfin]

1 hour ago, jaiyen said:

Oh !  I thought we were going to get a crappy Chinese train system.

To be fair Jaiyen, I travel on the high speed trains throughout China regularly and they are far from being crappy. They are maintained to a high level and are 99.9% on time-like clockwork. The new Shanghai-Beijing train is permitted to travel at 350 kph while other CRH  trains travel at 300 kph in complete safety. There has only been one major accident with these trains about 5 years ago, so if the Chinese also train the Thais to a high standard, then the Thai trains will hopefully be far from crappy too.

Edited November 18, 2017 by Elfin

[madmitch]

1 hour ago, Jeremy50 said:

Wait a minute, don't people just take a plane if they want to 'slash journey times'?

I've done a couple of high speed rail journeys in the past year or so. And it beats air travel hands down.

 

Stations are in the city centre, check-in is fast, just a scan of the ticket, security was much quicker than at the airport, no waiting for your bags at the other end. So it's generally much quicker door-to-door.

 

It's also more comfortable.

[wvavin]

Another very big windfall for many corrupt government officials in Thailand.

[Ricardo]

How will building the new line only-halfway affect the economics of the project ?

 

Previous proposals have always assumed that, once the line has been built as far as P'lok, some un-named private contractor will step-in to complete the more-difficult remainder running through the mountains !

 

But if it's Japanese-standard high-speed passenger-only, with no freight coming from Laem-Chabang or off the new Chinese medium-speed mainly-freight line, how does that affect the numbers, and the likelihood of it ever actually getting built ?

 

I'd also note that the Thai-government is having to borrow part of the cost, for just the first section of the Chinese-line, so presumably this Japanese-led project will have to be wholly debt-financed  ...  by whom, and at what rate-of-interest ?

 

And how do the numbers look, if the P'lok-ChiangMai section doesn't get built ?