Air-con for third-class carriages

[george]

Air-con for third-class carriages

Hua Lamphong to get cold treatment too

BANGKOK: Air-conditoning will be put in all long-haul third-class trains and waiting areas at Hua Lamphong terminal in a bid to pull in more passengers.

Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit said 70% of long-distance train passengers wanted the third-class service air-conditioned and he was confident they would be willing to pay extra.

Air-conditioning would raise the portion of the fare called the supplementary fee.

Hua Lamphong terminal would also be fitted with air-conditioners but that would not affect train fares.

Bus terminals at Mor Chit are fully air-conditioned, and Hua Lamphong should be too.

Jitsanti Thanasophon, the State Railway of Thailand governor, said the air-conditioners would be installed in time for the Songkran festival in April next year.

Thai Nakhon Ratchathani Co (TNR), which makes the cold-relief pills Tiffy, would provide 40-50 million baht capital for the project on a contractual promise of a fair return on the investment and the extension of its right to manage commercial spaces at the terminal.

Mr Jitsanti said details of the investment were still being considered.

The SRT was expected to earn up to 30 million baht in revenue a year from TNR which was commissioned to manage the Hua Lamphong spaces in 1998.

The contract, which expires this month, was renewable for another three years.

The air-conditioning project, however, would most likely result in TNR being granted a long-term management right.

Mr Jitsanti said the air-conditioners would increase Hua Lampong's electricity bill by up to 400,000 baht a month.

--Bangkok Post 2003-10-27

[tomy]

I never been on a train before, not even back in the state, one of these day i might try it to see how it feel.  

[Cha Minnow]

Thai Nakhon Ratchathani Co (TNR), which makes the cold-relief pills Tiffy, would provide 40-50 million baht capital for the project...

I see their motive Install air-conditioners to make all the people sick, THEN they will go and pay for the Tiffy cold-relief pills and make back the b40,000,000,000-b50,000,000,000.

[SeaVisionBurma]

one of these day i might try it to see how it feel

Tomy,

Trains are much the same as they've been for a long long time (give or take an air-con or 3) and I think they're brilliant.  Not much other forms of mass transport these days which have changed very little over time.

So much of the countryside to see, in ANY country.  Amazing how much life exists within a few hundred feet of a railway.  Hope you get to give it a go sometime.

Best

SVB.

[ovenman]

Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit said 70% of long-distance train passengers wanted the third-class service air-conditioned and he was confident they would be willing to pay extra.

I agree with the first part of this statement but have serious doubts about the second.  I've been on enough third-class trains to be able to make an informed educated guess that the bulk of the Thai passengers who are travelling long-distance in the non-airconditioned carriages will not fork over one more baht to ride in a cool car.