DRT opens seminar on Thailand rail transport

[webfact]

 

By Tanakorn Sangiam

    

BANGKOK (NNT) - The government is now focusing more on railway development as the main driver for Thailand’s logistics sector, thanks to the system’s lower cost and reliability. The Department of Rail Transport has opened a public forum on regional rail transport operations to gain input on the system’s performance, with the hope to upgrade Thailand’s railways in line with international standards.

 

The Department of Rail Transport (DRT) kicked off a study on the operations and performance of each rail line in Thailand, with public forums held to gain input from all stakeholders.

 

Speaking at a seminar, the Ministry of Transport Permanent Secretary Sorapong Paitoonphong, serving as the DRT’s Acting Director-General, said the government has continuously invested in the railway infrastructure development, covering metro and urban commuter trains, dual-track long-distance railways, as well as high-speed railways, to make rail services a key mode of passenger and cargo transport.

 

Mr. Sorapong said rail services can help reduce traffic congestion on roads, reduce accidents, and reduce pollution, while effective usage and reliable operations are key factors towards worthwhile investment in railway development.

 

Outcomes from this study will be analyzed by the DRT using several indicators, in order to create a tool to regulate and further develop the country’s rail services in line with international standards.

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2021-12-08

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[RichardColeman]

 

7 minutes ago, webfact said:

said the government has continuously invested in the railway infrastructure development, covering metro and urban commuter trains, dual-track long-distance railways, as well as high-speed railways, to make rail services a key mode of passenger and cargo transport.

Maybe ,  but I've never seen up do date trains in Thailand. Ones I see even Hornby stopped making years ago and are antiques now

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

The government is now focusing more on railway development as the main driver for Thailand’s logistics sector, thanks to the system’s lower cost and reliability. The Department of Rail Transport has opened a public forum on regional rail transport operations to gain input on the system’s performance, with the hope to upgrade Thailand’s railways in line with international standards

More talk and no building.

[Gsxrnz]

Without government subsidies modern rail logistics only ever (kind of) works if you're hauling huge volumes over huge distances on a routine schedule and the products are moving directly from producer to consumer.  i.e  coal or ore from a mine directly to a steel manufacturer.

 

The irony of hub to hub train transport is that each hub requires trucks at each end to deliver the container/cargo.  You will never eradicate or even considerably reduce the trucks on the road unless every delivery point has a rail siding.   And while that may be a train enthusiasts wet dream come true, it's never happened in the history of the world.

[DekDaeng]

53 minutes ago, Gsxrnz said:

Without government subsidies modern rail logistics only ever (kind of) works if you're hauling huge volumes over huge distances on a routine schedule and the products are moving directly from producer to consumer.  i.e  coal or ore from a mine directly to a steel manufacturer.

 

The irony of hub to hub train transport is that each hub requires trucks at each end to deliver the container/cargo.  You will never eradicate or even considerably reduce the trucks on the road unless every delivery point has a rail siding.   And while that may be a train enthusiasts wet dream come true, it's never happened in the history of the world.

So?

 

'Till we get electric (zero CO2) trucks -

 

[trainman34014]

Another Rinse and Repeat Railway Tale that has worn thin down the years.    Whilst other countries move forward and actually get things done Thailand sits on its hands whilst all the 'Officials' try to figure out how they can become very rich or even richer than they already are through plundering the Project(s).   No thought is actually given to the Project's usefulness or practicality; all so typically Thai !

[Golden Triangle]

And this was posted on ASEAN NOW on 3rd December.

 

ASEAN NOW notes that amid all the seminar rhetoric Thailand's rail system is about half a century overdue a complete makeover.

 

Much of the system could at best be described as quaint, is antiquated and falling apart.

 

Grubby trains run late and derailments are frequent. Critics are concerned that Thailand may not be ready to implement Chinese technology in particular in the field of high speed trains. 

 

[Andycoops]

Yet more jaw, jaw from a committee and no action, meanwhile little old Laos has a high-speed line running the length of the country, albeit at a crippling debt to the corrupt in Peking.

[natway09]

This is about the 5th time I have heard this in my 32 years of being here.

Start with the SRT& get rid of all executive staff, it has to be the most badly managed Gov't department in Thailand.

More concerned about getting rents off their vast property & land holdings than doing what they are there for, which is, believe it of not to run a railway.

The truckies would not like it though if they did get efficient

[peterpaintpot]

13 hours ago, Gsxrnz said:

Without government subsidies modern rail logistics only ever (kind of) works if you're hauling huge volumes over huge distances on a routine schedule and the products are moving directly from producer to consumer.  i.e  coal or ore from a mine directly to a steel manufacturer.

 

The irony of hub to hub train transport is that each hub requires trucks at each end to deliver the container/cargo.  You will never eradicate or even considerably reduce the trucks on the road unless every delivery point has a rail siding.   And while that may be a train enthusiasts wet dream come true, it's never happened in the history of the world.

When Slough Trading Estate opened in the 1930's it did indeed have rails going to each company and SLE had their own locomotives to break up the trains and deliver the wagons to individual companies. As the curse of increased levels of freight being transported by road the rail delivery was considered redundant.

It will be far more difficult to go back to the rail system now than the initial construction in the 1930's.