All train services at Bangkok’s Hua Lamphong train terminal to come to an end

[webfact]

 

Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob has stressed the necessity of ending all train services to and from Hua Lamphong railway terminal. Daily rides into the station will be initially reduced to 22 from 118, to ease traffic congestion caused by periodical closures of roads at level crossings.

 

Many commuters have protested against the substantial cut in train services to the station, noting that this increases their expenses as they have to continue their daily journey to work in town from Bang Sue grand station by bus, instead of directly from Hua Lamphong station, which is in the city centre.

 

Saksayam said today (Monday), however, that he will discuss the operation of city bus services with the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, to arrange for a special feeder bus service to bring commuters from Bang Sue grand station to inner Bangkok.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/all-train-services-at-bangkoks-hua-lamphong-train-terminal-to-come-to-an-end/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-11-23

 

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[audaciousnomad]

Feeder bus??? I thought that was what MRT is for.

Edited November 22, 2021 by audaciousnomad

[bbko]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Daily rides into the station will be initially reduced to 22 from 118

Reduced from 22 to 118??  Am I missing something here, that make no sense.  

[sungod]

2 minutes ago, bbko said:

Reduced from 22 to 118??  Am I missing something here, that make no sense.  

Read again....it's a trick ????

[bbko]

2 minutes ago, sungod said:

Read again....it's a trick ????

Aaa, too early in the morning, my bad, 555.  

[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, bbko said:

Reduced from 22 to 118??  Am I missing something here, that make no sense.  

Reduced to... not from.

[soi3eddie]

Surely train services are supposed to remove road traffic? Makes no sense to use busses instead. Cost of using MRT/BTS can be prohibitive for many people compared to SRT fares. Especially for those on very low incomes. I rode from Hua Lampong out east last year one early morning and was surprised just how many commuter trains were coming into the city. Going to Bang Sue instead will not work for many commuters.

 

[thaiowl]

Hmm...locating your capital city's new central train station outside the city centre.

[richard_smith237]

I know anything Thai officialdom decides to do is going to be met with ridicule on this forum, its just the nature of those who look for the negative all the time....  However, this move definitely reduces traffic congestion and gridlock, it is a solid fix, at least for the short term.

 

The very slow, very long trains which pass level crossings create a level of congestion and gridlock which, at times, is not recoverable before the next train passes.

 

Moving the main train terminus outside of the city centre is a logical and cheaper solution (i.e. Bang Sue Central) because building ‘under-ground’ is extremely costly and there is no space to build the existing road network ‘over’ the train lines - thus, remedial action will take years. 

 

But... when we look at all the major cities in developed nations they all have a couple of major stations inside the city centre, and this for a very good reason.

 

Thus, Thailand can now look at building ’new’ rail infrastructure into the city centre, but it needs to be tunnels into an underground statin - but it would need a huge injection of cash - Thailand is still a ‘3rd World’ (developing) nation with massive over population and congestion in the city. 

 

There really is no right answer as the money is not there. IF this were Tokyo, London, New York etc there would be a huge station underneath Siam Square area and it would have been built decades ago - Thailand is simply not wealthy enough for that. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PETERTHEEATER]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

........there would be a huge station underneath Siam Square area and it would have been built decades ago -

......flooded and abandoned........No amount of money will fix the high water table methinks.....????

[soi3eddie]

11 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

......flooded and abandoned........No amount of money will fix the high water table methinks.....????

You mean just like all the MRT underground stations?

[PETERTHEEATER]

1 hour ago, soi3eddie said:

You mean just like all the MRT underground stations?

You are correct Sir. I had thought that they were all cut and cover but I see now that sections are bored tunnels.

[josephbloggs]

18 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

You are correct Sir. I had thought that they were all cut and cover but I see now that sections are bored tunnels.

Not sections, it is all bored tunnels.

[rickudon]

I once used a train in Bangkok - cost me 11 baht. The more modern mass transit system fares can make a significant dent in a minimum wage earners income,

[soi3eddie]

52 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

You are correct Sir. I had thought that they were all cut and cover but I see now that sections are bored tunnels.

They appear to do quite a good job of keeping the MRT running. Never heard any issues with water ingress. Some of the stations seem very deep underground too. 

[bangon04]

7 hours ago, thaiowl said:

Hmm...locating your capital city's new central train station outside the city centre.

need to destroy the classic building because it is a perfect location for a shopping mall....... 

"It has been proposed that Hua Lamphong terminal be preserved as a museum, instead of being developed into a commercial complex, the minister said, adding that he has to make a decision which may not please some people because he has to address the SRT’s mountain of debt."

Edited November 23, 2021 by bangon04
added quote

[SymS]

Where will trains from Chiang Mai stop now?

[richard_smith237]

5 minutes ago, SymS said:

Where will trains from Chiang Mai stop now?

Really ????

 

[soi3eddie]

1 hour ago, bangon04 said:

need to destroy the classic building because it is a perfect location for a shopping mall....... 

"It has been proposed that Hua Lamphong terminal be preserved as a museum, instead of being developed into a commercial complex, the minister said, adding that he has to make a decision which may not please some people because he has to address the SRT’s mountain of debt."

TBH I think it would be a good location for mixed use. A destination even though no more trains ????. Museum, hotel, restaurants, offices and some shops. Even make some apartments. St. Pancras Station in London is still a busy station but what has been done there with Radisson Hotel, apartments, shops and restaurants inside to preserve the old building is to be applauded (although there are strict building preservation laws in the UK). 

 

[ballpoint]

1 hour ago, SymS said:

Where will trains from Chiang Mai stop now?

Wherever they fall off the tracks.

[RubbaJohnny]

18 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

Wherever they fall off the tracks.

Sorry don't mean to derail your train of thought ,but they may reach as far as the old buffers, while more sensitive coupling may reach Bang tRak?

[SymS]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

Really ????

 

That's weird if the train would stop at such as small station. Last April (last time I went to Bangkok), I saw a large station being built in Laksi (I think).

[josephbloggs]

6 minutes ago, SymS said:

That's weird if the train would stop at such as small station. Last April (last time I went to Bangkok), I saw a large station being built in Laksi (I think).

Bang Sue Grand Central is the largest rail station in SE Asia.

 

https://futuresoutheastasia.com/bang-sue-grand-station/

[SymS]

1 hour ago, josephbloggs said:

Bang Sue Grand Central is the largest rail station in SE Asia.

 

https://futuresoutheastasia.com/bang-sue-grand-station/

OK.. That must be the new place I saw being under construction. My train did not go through that station...

[Nojohndoe]

6 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

......flooded and abandoned........No amount of money will fix the high water table methinks.....????

And even without any factual evidence that I personally have I would say you have identified the basic reason such expensive and  massive infrastructure , albeit an immediate solution to existing issues, has already been determined to have uneconomic practicality in even the intermediate term.

While Thailand continues to be considered an economically inferior nation the financial interest and focus of the origins of financial approval for profitable  returns on infrastructural input heed the advice of better than social media commentary.

The combination of  both well publicized and evidential evidence of threats to coastal cities  such as Bangkok renders underground developments Dubiously unsustainable profitably . "Profitably" being the primary key to any infrastructure that is promoted to be of social advantage !

 

[BusyB]

11 hours ago, bangon04 said:

need to destroy the classic building because it is a perfect location for a shopping mall....... 

"It has been proposed that Hua Lamphong terminal be preserved as a museum, instead of being developed into a commercial complex, the minister said, adding that he has to make a decision which may not please some people because he has to address the SRT’s mountain of debt."

Like the Scala ... what bloody philistines ... they squeal about 'patriotism' and 'Thai culture, yet destroy their own heritage for a fistful of dollars.

[Denim]

2 hours ago, BusyB said:

Like the Scala ... what bloody philistines ... they squeal about 'patriotism' and 'Thai culture, yet destroy their own heritage for a fistful of dollars.

For a few dollars more , they will commit any outrage. Hang 'em high is what say.