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

[Millcx]

19 hours ago, Chazar said:

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

And a 3 hour wait for the train to go 5555

[Sydebolle]

Does anyone proofread stuff first before the press releases are done? 

Some seriously good weed must pass around with the SRT - the new board (remember, the old one got sacked completely three weeks ago) really kick arxez now. 

Lets wait and see .......... 

[Benmart]

The skeptics, nay-sayers and doomsday bell-ringers are having a great time with this one. The same crew when the BTS, MRT, BKK were being planned and built. Nothing is perfect, not even their predictions. I prefer to wait and see.

[DefaultName]

500 to Pattaya.... station.  Then the taxi into town for  ???   ????

[Cadbury]

I am more inclined to think this is not so much about passengers and fares and getting people to and fro. I believe it is more about the Prayut Eastern Economic Corridor dream. Without the HS train and the image that goes with it there would be no EEC.

Potential investors would not be in the slightest bit interested unless there was such a train to support the infrastructure needed for the EEC. 

Any passenger revenue losses by the investing partners could be squared up financially via the back door of treasury using EEC funding. 

[kevin612]

500 baht is not affordable.

[Dice Man]

19 hours ago, Chazar said:

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

BKk to PTTY =  say 165 kms in 45 mins = 220 kms per hour but 7 stops en route @ 5 mins each = 35 mins so avg speed with slowing/starting slower speeds =150kms in 10 mins = 900kms per hour WOW!!!!!

 

19 hours ago, Chazar said:

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

 

[hotchilli]

19 hours ago, webfact said:

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

Built on tracks laid by who exactly, experienced engineers or the cheapest labour from across the border...

just wondering?

[ross163103]

Chinese getting their foot in the door, be careful who you get into bed with! The Chinese started with their island building project in the south china sea approx. 8 years ago, first one was going to be a "fisherman's rest".........we see how that's worked out.

[phitsanulokjohn]

17 hours ago, flynn said:

A station in Pattaya where ? 

East Pattaya the dark side

[yellowboat]

16 hours ago, Moonlover said:

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!

Fewer are living in Thailand by the day if you read the nation, so you may not need to wonder for much longer.

 

Would you call BangSue BF Bangkok or the city center?  Airports are on the outskirts, NOT railway stations.  The back story will probably be the plowing of Hua Lumpong for a new mega mall with condos.  So yes, we think it looks hinky.  I happen to love Hua Lumpong and the area near it.   Would hate to see it ruined my military gentrification.    

 

[josephbloggs]

2 hours ago, yellowboat said:

Not sure if I want to go to Pattaya.   I know I don't to go to Bang Sue.  The Ekkemai bus service is fine by me for the rare times I need to go there.  Though given how dull Bangkok has become, it might be worth a look.  Still do not see spending an hour going to north Bangkok so I can shave less than an hour off a journey that is rather inexpensive anyway.  A financial  train wreck in the offing.  

I didn't know they were building it just for you - you should let them know you don't really want to go to Pattaya so they can cancel it.

[ChipButty]

It only takes 30 minutes in a Minivan

[Grumpy John]

It's to early to put a realistic price on Bangkok to Pattaya ticket.  My guess is at 500 x 147000 travellers per day, or less for shorter distance stations, they won't make a lot of money once you factor in all the costs.  My worry is the required level of maintainance may not be up to HS train standards.   When you get to Pattaya you taxi Ride down town will cost double what it should and an extra 50 percent if your further North East than the existing railroad alignment. ????

[spidermike007]

Thailand desperately needs more modern forms of local transportation. The roads are hopelessly clogged by massive volumes of trucks, and getting busier by the day. Any high speed train system that can be developed is a very good thing. There are millions who would spend this amount, to be able to avoid the nasty traffic snarls. I sure will use the system. 

 

Even more urgently needed is the north-south corridor. From Bangkok to Surat. The highway 4 is hopelessly clogged at times, and is the main artery. Something needs to be done.

 

I consider Thailand to be one of the least progressive nations on earth, so when something progressive like this is proposed, it is a near miracle, no matter the cost. 

[josephbloggs]

1 hour ago, Xonax said:

Exactly like the BTS Skytrain in Bangkok, which most Thais cannot afford. But who cares, as long as the company operating the service business, is making huge profits, which generates huge kickbacks.
 

Yep, never see Thais on the BTS do you.

[prakhonchai nick]

8 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

It only takes 30 minutes in a Minivan

As long as that? I am sure they could do it in 20 mins in the small hours.

[DJ54]

As things go in most countries these things face delays along the 

way.....  may have tours of Pattaya Ghost Town with movies shown

at the beginning of trip of Pattaya in its hay days.

[Coaster11]

Great idea.! but i hope they're wont be any level crossing's along the way ????

 

 

[PETERTHEEATER]

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. 

 

16,000 construction, 84,000 management, administration and hangers-on....????

 

 

[30la]

Dreams are foam!

You are already talking about a VERY distant future, you are a dreamer with no sense for reality!

[sawadeeken]

i DON'T KNOW IF IF I WILL LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO ENJOY THIS ...... until then the Mia-Noi will still have to come to the BKK airport to take me to Pattaya...... I hope I live that long to enjoy it.... LOL .... 

[newnative]

    It looks like it makes 4 stops between Suvarnabumi and U-Tapao.  Having been on high speed trains, I've noticed there is a fairly long slowing process coming into a station and then getting back up to speed.  I doubt the train will be reaching 250 kph very often or for very long.  When you get to Pattaya you'll be dumped out in the middle of nowhere and still have to arrange transportation into Pattaya or Jomtien.

[NanLaew]

16 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

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.

 

 

So outside the questionable 15 minutes saved, you relish exposing yourself to death by other idiot driver then?

 

If I really hammer it down the 'fast' lane, I can get from the house in Nongplalai to Suvarnabhumi parking in 60 minutes +/- 5 minutes.

 

If I take my time, observe speed limits and let the hammer drivers hog the 'fast' lane, I can get from the house in Nongplalai to Suvarnabhumi parking in 70 minutes +/- 5 minutes.

 

If the new train can do it in 45 minutes, I aint driving with those idiots on Highway 7 any more.

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, Xonax said:

Exactly like the BTS Skytrain in Bangkok, which most Thais cannot afford.

Oh... is that why the BTS carriages trains are virtually empty and the buses are chok-a-block with the impoverished on their 3 hour 1-way commutes?

[NanLaew]

3 hours ago, DoctorG said:

15 hours ago, PatOngo said:

The corners at Chachoensao and Utapao look a bit sharp!

I just had to look up who put "confused" on your obvious joke. 

Retired steam traction engineers maybe?

[josephbloggs]

2 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

 

I think it would be safe to presume there will be express services and all station services etc, not every train will stop at every station, a little naive to say it will take longer because of all the stops. BKK to pattaya express will be 45 minutes because it wont stop at the stations in between.

Exactly.  So many posters getting their knickers in a twist over a headline, when using just a little bit of common sense might help make sense.  But no, better to immediately bash the keyboard.

Total line length is 191km.  They say from Makkasan to Pattaya (maybe 160kms?) in 45 minutes, which it would be for a direct service.  It is very easy maths.

Of course not every single train will stop at every single station.  Just like when I travel on Virgin trains from Liverpool to London I have the choice of a 2hour (ish) journey or an almost 4hour journey.  Same train, travelling at the same speed, stopping more or less frequently.  It is not hard to understand.

Not sure why some people get in to a tizz so easily (except it is mostly the same people who get in to a tizz over everything here).

[PatOngo]

2 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

 
Not sure why some people get in to a tizz so easily (except it is mostly the same people who get in to a tizz over everything here).

Tizzers!

[Elzear]

Seeing the route, I can hardly imagine reaching 220kph, let alone 100.. But it must be seen in a wider plan. That of linking Laos with Bangkok. Refer to the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Coridor (2016). Starting with that last link is logical.. sort of. Like putting the cart in front of the ox.. 

[Jane Dough]

One wonders why anyone would want to get to Pattaya within 45 minutes. 

 

I always want to put it off for as long as possible....

 

????

 

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