Northern speed train derails in Pitsanulok

PITSANULOK: -- A northern speed train from Thailand's northern resort province of Chiang Mai derailed in Pitsanulok Province Monday morning, but there was no report of any casualties.

The incident took place near Pitsanulok's Ban Kwae Noy Raiway Station in Muang District.

An official inspection at the scene by railway technicians found that parts of the old railroad were broken.

The technicians said cold weather covering the area at the moment could have caused a contraction of the steel-railway, leading to the accident.

However, all the 300 passengers of the train were reportedly safe.

The railway technicians have urgently repaired the broken parts, saying the work is expected to be completed by Monday evening so that train services from the North to Bangkok and vice versa will resume.

--TNA 2005-12-19

I did the CM-BKK run yesterday, Boy I feel lucky.

Thai television was reporting that the derailment was due to "someone" loosening the bolts that secure the railroad ties to the track???

similar to what's occured in the South (their connection, not mine).

In other words, it was a deliberate act.

Originally having come from a cold climate, I have to say that it is a pretty poorly built railway that can't put up with Thailand's "cold" weather. Sorry but I've lived where temperatures varied from -45 to +45. Those rails could take the expansion and contraction of pretty extreme temperatures. Admittedly, in very, very cold weather, trains moved much more slowly and I was told part of this was because of the separation between rails.