Thailand suggests slower bullet train amid high cost estimate

[bluesofa]

1 hour ago, Dave67 said:

Can someone remind me I Recall High speed bullshit express Line 1 was China to Lam Chabang,  Is this one part of High speed bullshit express line 2 or 3 ?

I think it depends on whether there's an 'R' in the month.

Give it another few months, we could be up to 5 or 6...

[mok199]

that's fair enough...I personally think Thailand was getting in over their head at those speeds..

Edited January 19, 2018 by mok199

[AlQaholic]

If they just use the good old Thai diesel trains there will be significant cost savings.....Which then can be used to purchase a few submarines, surveillance balloons or even a rocket to send the first Thai astronaut into orbit!

[Eric Loh]

4 minutes ago, mok199 said:

that's fair enough...I personally think Thailand was getting in over their head at those speeds...200 sound fine

I believed that the 180 speed will accommodate the cargo aspect of the business. Makes better business sense. That will meant a reversal to the original previous government infrastructure strategy.  

[AlQaholic]

Why don't they just gradually upgrade the whole rail system overall, like in Malaysia?

Guess which one is the Thai train?

[shady86]

Looking at the culture here of procuring things as cheap as possible, I'm pretty sure they will run out of budget to maintain the rails and trains so everything will end up being abandoned.

[MichaelJohn]

I guess when it's finished it won't even achieve the expected 180-200 km per hr due to some shortcut.

[Orton Rd]

I would not want to be on a very fast train maintained and driven by Thais, if it were a Japanese one no problem.

 

[hansnl]

On a practical note, without any sign of a slur, might the government consider the fact that the difference in maximum speed between the existing line of 120 km/h and the projected maximum speed of the new to build line of, say, 190 km/h is not worth the investment.

It might be better to forget building new lines and spend the money on upgrading the existing lines for higher speeds and buying pendolino rolling stock suitable for, say, 200 km/h?

Yes, even on 1 metre gauge!

 

 

 

[hansnl]

12 minutes ago, shady86 said:

Looking at the culture here of procuring things as cheap as possible, I'm pretty sure they will run out of budget to maintain the rails and trains so everything will end up being abandoned.

Buying as cheap as possible is normal practice everywhere in the world.

Cost overruns are also normal all over the world because of this practice.

[Dave67]

[Ricardo]

50 minutes ago, AlQaholic said:

If they just use the good old Thai diesel trains there will be significant cost savings.....Which then can be used to purchase a few submarines, surveillance balloons or even a rocket to send the first Thai astronaut into orbit!

 

You're way behind, on that last suggestion  ...

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Phirada-poised-to-become-first-Thai-to-go-into-out-30226264.html

[nikmar]

[TKDfella]

20 hours ago, Laughing Gravy said:

It defeats the point really having a fast train service go slower. Then again it is pointless having a BTS system that has so few carriages that there are so big queues, that using public transport to reduce road traffic congestion, is worthless. Must be another 'Thainess' concept I haven't got my head round, even after 17 years living here full time.

Yes, I had the same thoughts when I read about it in the news a little while back, about the slower 'fast train' that is. I wondered at that time what else might be cut and so make it a pointless issue.

[lincolnshire poacher]

20 hours ago, transam said:

Now that is what I would call a real high speed locomotive. Thailand could have more of these built in England and corner the SE Asian market for trainspotters

[NanLaew]

15 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

 

I have a mental image of the next government visiting the Treasury and finding it stacked with cash around the outside, but hollow and empty in the centre - something like those rice warehouses of a few years ago.

I'll tell you what's mental. Your allusion to there being a "next" government. That's what's mental.

[12DrinkMore]

1 hour ago, shady86 said:

Looking at the culture here of procuring things as cheap as possible, I'm pretty sure they will run out of budget to maintain the rails and trains so everything will end up being abandoned.

 

Not sure about that.

There have been more than a few incidences of paying way over the top for stuff, such as bomb detectors, airport scanning systems, millitary hardware.

 

The reason why the funds dry up is because they get syphoned into too many pockets along the way.

[canuckamuck]

20 hours ago, webfact said:

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who leads the country's junta, instructed transport officials to consider reducing the top speed from 300kph to between 180kph and 200kph.

So just a little slower than the double decker bus convoys

 

Edited January 19, 2018 by canuckamuck

[lincolnshire poacher]

56 minutes ago, hansnl said:

On a practical note, without any sign of a slur, might the government consider the fact that the difference in maximum speed between the existing line of 120 km/h and the projected maximum speed of the new to build line of, say, 190 km/h is not worth the investment.

It might be better to forget building new lines and spend the money on upgrading the existing lines for higher speeds and buying pendolino rolling stock suitable for, say, 200 km/h?

Yes, even on 1 metre gauge!

 

 

 

Can you think of another country in the world that runs  trains at 200 KmPH  on metre gauge ? I can't

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, madmitch said:

Anything above 50kph is a major improvement on the existing service!

...only as long as it stays on the tracks.

 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2018 by NanLaew

[lincolnshire poacher]

15 hours ago, shady86 said:

Japan could sell them the decommissioned first generation of bullet trains from the 1970s which runs at max 200km/h! Or just give them free.

Quite true, Thailand accepts a lot of old  Japanese rollig stock at the moment

[lincolnshire poacher]

15 hours ago, Dave67 said:

 

The speed doesn't really make much difference to the price most tracks even metros have tolerances similar to high speed.Still the same viaducts, tunnels and land formation. Unless they are going for wooden sleeper and ballast,. But then again it was all probably bullshit from the start

Maybe, but not on metre gauge

[NanLaew]

2 minutes ago, lincolnshire poacher said:

Quite true, Thailand accepts a lot of old  Japanese rollig stock at the moment

 

Here's some previously rolled stock.

 

Not sure where it's from originally but it didn't get to where it was going.

 

[lincolnshire poacher]

2 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

My guess is that they want a cheaper train as it will cost less to replace when it hits a pick-up on the rail-crossing !

There will be no level crossings

[lincolnshire poacher]

1 hour ago, Cadbury said:

The speed of the train was never going to be 300kph as claimed in this story. It was always intended to be 250kph so a drop of around 50kph is not so big deal. Poor reporting.

So here they are debating how fast it will go and how much will they spend only weeks before they promised construction would begin next month. Typical military style bungling governance.

So can it be expected the same will apply to the Chinese fast train line through to Nong Khai? Presumably the budgets for both have been revised downward because of other financial pressures. 

IMHO the chances of these high speed trains ever happening is almost nil. This military junta seems to have trouble making even the most simplest things happen including holding an election and clearing footpaths.

Procurring Chinese submarines appears to be going ahead.

[toofarnorth]

20 hours ago, transam said:

Mallard was good for over a ton , my Forza if pressed would get close to the ton and the number is 4479 A3  Robert the Devil .

Sorry , where's me anorak.

[lincolnshire poacher]

9 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

 

Here's some previously rolled stock.

 

Not sure where it's from originally but it didn't get to where it was going.

 

It rolled though.

[lincolnshire poacher]

1 minute ago, toofarnorth said:

Mallard was good for over a ton , my Forza if pressed would get close to the ton and the number is 4479 A3  Robert the Devil .

Sorry , where's me anorak.

Mallard was good for slightly more than 200KmPH, your anorak is still in left luggage, if you are lucky

[jerry921]

20 hours ago, transam said:

I'm not sure everyone fully appreciated the applicability of this suggestion. The LNER 4468 set the all-time steam speed record at 203kph, which would land it nicely in the middle of the new suggested 180-220kph target range.

 

And of course steam is much more environmentally friendly than diesel, right?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_4468_Mallard

[lincolnshire poacher]

19 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

...only as long as it stays on the tracks.

 

 

 

So it will be a faster slow train if they can get it to stay on the rails