High Speed train: Bangkok to Pattaya in less than 45 minutes after "historic" deal

[webfact]

High Speed train: Bangkok to Pattaya in less than 45 minutes after "historic" deal

 

File photo

 

State Railways of Thailand has said that passengers on a high speed train will be able to get from downtown Bangkok to Pattaya in under three quarters of an hour. 

 

They listed the time it would take to get from Makkasan Station to U-Tapao Airport as 45 minutes. 

 

With top speeds of 250 kmph that will mean Bangkok to Pattaya will be even quicker than that. 

 

The $7.4 billion deal between CP Group and a Chinese Railway consortium was finally signed yesterday in what the Public Relations page of the SRT called a "historic" deal for Thailand. 

 

The nine station 220 km route will link three airports across nine stations. It will originate at Don Muang airport and pass through Suvarnabhumi Airport to the U-Tapao airport destination. 

 

 

Thailand’s new station at Bang Sue, which will be the largest in Southeast Asia when it is expected to open next year will become the central hub for Thailand’s high speed rail link.

 

As well accommodating the high speed trains it will also be used for the new electric trains and the older diesel trains used in Thailand, and help to connect the current Airport Rail Link and numerous MRT lines.

 

The new station will eventually replace the Hua Lamphong station, which has been Bangkok’s primary train station since it opened in 1916.

 

There will also be further high speed train stations at Makkasan, Chacherngsao, Chonburi, Sri Racha and Pattaya.

 

The high speed rail line is expected to be operational as early as 2023 or 2024. 

 

The SRT said it will need 16,000 construction staff to build it. 

 

Within five years it will provide an extra 100,000 people with employment. 

 

It will boost the Thai economy to the tune of 650 billion baht. 

 

A report by Channel 7 News estimated that approximately 147,000 passengers each day will use the service when it opens.

 

It was also estimated that ticket prices will be around 500 baht, although no further details were given.

 

 

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[Chazar]

9 minutes ago, webfact said:

The nine station 220 km

so its  going to do all those  stops and  still be 45 minutes?

[Chazar]

10 minutes ago, webfact said:

will be around 500 baht,

most Thais  wont be using it  then

[Eligius]

It is very, very easy to be sceptical about this one ...!

[sunnyboy2018]

Great news. The Thai Bangkokians will be using it a lot. I really look forward to this service.

[sunnyboy2018]

7 minutes ago, Eligius said:

It is very, very easy to be sceptical about this one ...!

Yes. Too easy and lazy in a way. Try to be positive.

[KhunBENQ]

45 min.

After you needed an hour in the taxi to reach the station.

[fforest1]

It was also estimated that ticket prices will be around 500 baht, although no further details were given.

 

 

500 baht a ticket?.......What?...........The price has already risen from 330 baht a few hours ago.....

At this rate in 5 years a ticket should cost about 100,000 baht....

[fforest1]

18 minutes ago, Chazar said:

most Thais  wont be using it  then

Not when a 2 hour bus ride from Bangkok to Pattaya cost 100 baht......

[Chivas]

Is the same historic deal I read about in 1992 in the Bangkok Post.....

[madmitch]

A high speed train of this nature is totally unnecessary on such a relatively short route. But the more money spent the bigger the brown envelopes!

[HLover]

1 hour ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

Great news. The Thai Bangkokians will be using it a lot. I really look forward to this service.

I thought the same about Uber...

[IvorLott]

48 minutes ago, Chivas said:

Is the same historic deal I read about in 1992 in the Bangkok Post.....

 

you took the words right from my fingertips, and indeed I'd say has been in the press many times since then I'd wager.

This has been mooted for years now yet the 'boneshaker' service is all that has been constant...while that trip used to be great fun (when you could still drink on trains) it isn't ideal for a supposed 'world class tourist resort'

[flynn]

A station in Pattaya where ? 

[Destiny1990]

Bkk Pty in 45 minutes sounds nice.

[smutcakes]

2 hours ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

Great news. The Thai Bangkokians will be using it a lot. I really look forward to this service.

I seriously doubt it. Depending on where you are it could take you 45 mins to get to the station. Then you need to get from the station ro your destiantion and then you have no way to get around once there. If you went as a family of 4 it would cost 2000 baht each way for marginal time saving, and not having any transport when there. Thais love there cars and there is just not enough up side on this to get them out of them.

 

Personally i just cannot see where the users for this are going to come from...

[Moonlover]

2 hours ago, Eligius said:

It is very, very easy to be sceptical about this one ...!

It's very, very easy for posters to TVF to be skeptical about ANYTHING related to Thailand.

 

I do wonder why many of them live here at all!

[PingRoundTheWorld]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

A report by Channel 7 News estimated that approximately 147,000 passengers each day will use the service when it opens.

It was also estimated that ticket prices will be around 500 baht, although no further details were given.

147,000 passengers a day?? Would love to hear the math on that one. Not even possible unless the trains had massive capacity and ran VERY frequently.

[Peterbilt]

3 hours ago, Chazar said:

so its  going to do all those  stops and  still be 45 minutes?

They are of course talking about 45 thaiminutes....

 

 

3 hours ago, Chazar said:

most Thais  wont be using it  then

Easy. Dual pricing.
Thais: 100 BHT
Foreigners: 1,500 BHT

[richard_smith237]

OK, so its better than the bus, but thats about it.

I have difficulty seeing how this could take existing road users off the road. 

 

When I want to go to Pattaya I can easily drive it, door to door in 2 hours. 

 

If using this train I'd have to get to the station (I guess about 30mins), then wait for the next train (say 10mins), then take the train (45mins), then go from the train station to my destination / hotel (say 20mins) = At a guess, total: 1 hr 45mins.

 

 

 

 

 

[Cracker2000]

And how many of those 16000 construction workers will be Thai (zero) and how many Chinese (all).

 

Expect taxi shuttle priced from U-Tupo to triple as well.

 

Great deal... think I'll pass thow.

[Enoon]

 

It's not going to be traveling at 250kph between each of the stations at DMK-Bang Sue-Makkasan-BKK.

 

By the time it has reached 250kph between the other stations it will have to start slowing down for the next one.

 

It will probably never get to 250 between any of them.........the longest leg, between Chaesongchao-Chonburi, is 37.9 kilometres in a straight line.

 

It will do one non-stop run, and thenceforward be a hugely over-specified stopping service, no faster than an everyday "rapid" (in developed world terms) service.

 

A massive, pocket-lining exercise in taking the p*** by the cartels......and of course, hand in glove, the Thai government.

 

Textbook looting/exploitation of state coffers/national resources.

 

 

[crazyk]

1 hour ago, IvorLott said:

 

you took the words right from my fingertips, and indeed I'd say has been in the press many times since then I'd wager.

This has been mooted for years now yet the 'boneshaker' service is all that has been constant...while that trip used to be great fun (when you could still drink on trains) it isn't ideal for a supposed 'world class tourist resort'

The new trains bangkok- hat yai are terrible,the bottom bunks are worse than the old trains top bunks,nowhere to smoke but the train stops every 40 mins or so for god knows how long so can jump off for a smoke,but there's no way you can sleep,all night & morning the tannoy annouuncement wakes you up as with the station lights,i also loved the old trains when you could drink

[CanuckThai]

The hub of consistent inconsistencies. 

Ooops, this was intended for the immigration thread, or the TM30 thread, or maybe the tourist health insurance requirement thread or better yet the..........

[DrTuner]

And then you add the 5h30min it takes to get to the stations and back.

[nong38]

What a load of <deleted>, people here say whatever feels right and everyone believes them because the education system does not teach them to question any statements. The only way 250 kms can be achieved is if it does not stop at any intermediate stations. Stop making ridiculous statements and just build the line safely and if it takes an hour or so to Patters that's ok as well, just cut out the bull!!

[PatOngo]

2 hours ago, flynn said:

A station in Pattaya where ? 

The corners at Chachoensao and Utapao look a bit sharp!

[androokery]

Or.... it could be the case that DMK is at or slightly above max capacity, BKK is about the same even though there are plans for an expansion there. Adding extra capacity at UTP requires an efficient way to travel from UTP to Bangkok. The train is possibly not mainly intended for people travelling from Bangkok to Pattaya as some posters seem to think. It's for distributing the load for three airports in the (relative) vicinity of Bangkok. 

[scorecard]

2 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

Bkk Pty in 45 minutes sounds nice.

Yes, but where will the PAttaya City station be located?

 

Will it be an upgrade of the current Pattaya station which is way outside of the city with gangs of song taow drivers trying to rip off passengers, or a newly located station right in the centre of Pattaya city? (Then a rip off trip by song taow to your hotel or home?) 

[DrTuner]

3 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Yes, but where will the PAttaya City station be located?

 

Will it be an upgrade of the current Pattaya station which is way outside of the city with gangs of song taow drivers trying to rip off passengers, or a newly located station right in the centre of Pattaya city? (Then a rip off trip by song taow to your hotel or home?) 

I vaguely seem to remember seeing some map where it was way, way back in the remote darkside, nearly maprachan. Hard to build somewhere in the middle.

 

That said, if they had extended the elevated highway from Chonburi to Patts and put a rail in the middle .. nah, has to have that tunnel.