Thailand Sees Potential As Regional Hub With Future Hi-Speed Train

[Nigel1500]

HSR is not for freight and doesn;t get used for freight anywhere in the world.

[Payboy]

Hope it works and gets lorries off the roads

Quite a task taking them out one at a time at those level crossings.

[spidermike007]

They might try finishing the Sky Train and elevated highway before they get to carried away,what an eye sore those unfinished columns are.

Thailand's version of stonehedge. What do you want to bet that 400 years from now they will be debating the meaning of the columns? Who built them? Why are they here? What do they mean? Why are there so many of them? What could they possibly have been used for? Why was such a fortune spent? Who was held responsible for the fiasco? Were they jailed or fined?

[Buchholz]

Transport Ministry to improve entire national rail system

BANGKOK 10 September 2012 (NNT) - Deputy Transport Minister, overseeing the State Railway of Thailand, Chatt Kuldiloke, said the government will uplift the standard of train tracks throughout the country.

Chatt said that the government has allotted 176 Billion Baht for uplifting the basic structures of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT).

The money will be spent, among other projects, on constructing an 873-kilometer double track system, acquiring over 70 new locomotives, as well as 605 new passenger and freight cars.

The Deputy Transport Minister expected that the improvement will provide customers with better safety and faster service. He said the SRT’s administrative management will also be restructured into a business unit, which will enable the state enterprise to efficiently compete in terms of price and quality.

The new business management will be divided into three units: 1) railway management, 2) maintenance, and 3) asset management.

To prepare Thailand for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, Chatt said the 1-meter wide rail tracks will be replaced with 1.435 meter-wide tracks.

The move will allow connectivity of Thai rail tracks with those of neighboring countries.

-- NNT 2012-09-10

[OzMick]

While a wonderful and exciting announcement, with a little analysis it turns into a pumpkin well before midnight.

Increasing the gauge is going to take many years. Of neighbouring countries, Laos (3.5 km x 1m) Cambodia (1m) and Myanmar (1m) have rail networks that hardly exist or a completely decrepit. Malaysia's network is also 1m gauge, and the double tracking is now planned to stop at Hua Hin, 760km short of the linkup.

What gauge then are all the new carriages and engines going to be?

This may explain the announcement:

"In October 2010, plans were announced for a 530 km railway linking Vientiane to Xishuangbanna, in Yunnan province in China. Construction is expected to begin in 2011, for completion in 2014. There are plans to extend this railway south from Vientiane to Bangkok. In April 2011 it was reported that construction of the railway has been postponed indefinitely, while the Chinese minister of Transport and Railways has been arrested on corruption charges.

[Buchholz]

Transport Ministry to improve entire national rail system

BANGKOK 10 September 2012 (NNT) - Deputy Transport Minister, overseeing the State Railway of Thailand, Chatt Kuldiloke, said

Chatt said that the government has allotted 176 Billion Baht for uplifting the basic structures of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT).

They have a photo now with the article showing the recipient of the 176 Billion Baht allocation.

Chatt

[MikeOboe57]

HSR is not for freight and doesn;t get used for freight anywhere in the world.

Not quite. In Germany the ICE does not run at night (if I recall correctly "midnight" to early morning) and the tracks are used by freight trains.

[philw]

Transport Ministry to improve entire national rail system

BANGKOK 10 September 2012 (NNT) - Deputy Transport Minister, overseeing the State Railway of Thailand, Chatt Kuldiloke, said

Chatt said that the government has allotted 176 Billion Baht for uplifting the basic structures of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT).

They have a photo now with the article showing the recipient of the 176 Billion Baht allocation.

Chatt

Thanks for keeping us updated with these fine photo's.

Sterling work Buchholze.

[rubl]

HSR is not for freight and doesn;t get used for freight anywhere in the world.

Not quite. In Germany the ICE does not run at night (if I recall correctly "midnight" to early morning) and the tracks are used by freight trains.

ICE = Intercity Express. Only though sometimes labelled as 'Highspeed' it may not use 'only' special tracks or not even partially. Using tracks for freight if not used for passenger traffic is fairly normal. In Germany some special ICE lines may be used for freight as well. Note that Germany has a somewhat more dense, double track 'normal' network which in most cases already allows speeds upto 160km/h.

The recent disturbance on the Bangkok - ChiangMai line shows that consolidating existing tracks in terms of stability, reliability, double tracking seems to be more important. Surely a reliable, somewhat higher speed (e.g. more than 60km/h) and double tract would allow avoiding road traffic and moving to rail traffic for freight.

[Buchholz]

Transport Ministry to improve entire national rail system

BANGKOK 10 September 2012 (NNT) - Deputy Transport Minister, overseeing the State Railway of Thailand, Chatt Kuldiloke, said

Chatt said that the government has allotted 176 Billion Baht for uplifting the basic structures of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT).

They have a photo now with the article showing the recipient of the 176 Billion Baht allocation.

Chatt

Thanks for keeping us updated with these fine photo's.

Sterling work Buchholze.

You're quite welcome

but it's still B-u-c-h-h-o-l-z.

,

[MikeOboe57]

HSR is not for freight and doesn;t get used for freight anywhere in the world.

Not quite. In Germany the ICE does not run at night (if I recall correctly "midnight" to early morning) and the tracks are used by freight trains.

ICE = Intercity Express. Only though sometimes labelled as 'Highspeed' it may not use 'only' special tracks or not even partially. Using tracks for freight if not used for passenger traffic is fairly normal. In Germany some special ICE lines may be used for freight as well. Note that Germany has a somewhat more dense, double track 'normal' network which in most cases already allows speeds upto 160km/h.

[...]

Sorry, here you're wrong. The german ICE is on one level with the french Train à Grande Vitesse TGV. Germany spent billions of Euro for punching high speed double track rail lines through its country with minimal slope and wide turns only unsing lots of tunnels and bridges. The ICEs go a lot faster than 160 km/h, its more close to 300 on some sections of the network.

[OzMick]

" 1-meter wide rail tracks will be replaced with 1.435 meter-wide tracks.

The move will allow connectivity of Thai rail tracks with those of neighboring countries."

The Asian countries which have standard gauge rail systems are Israel, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Russia, N & S Korea, and China. India has narrow, standard (private lines) and broad gauge.

All the near neighbours use 1m gauge.

So the funds allocated for double tracking are curtailed and redirected to gauge change, including replacement of all the concrete sleepers currently being laid.

Edited September 11, 2012 by OzMick