High-speed train to Tianjin may inspire Asean leaders

[webfact]

BURNING ISSUE
High-speed train to Tianjin may inspire Asean leaders
SUPALAK GANJANAKHUNDEE
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- IF THE SCHEDULE remains unchanged, Asean foreign ministers - including Thailand's very own Surapong Tovichakchaikul - will have a chance to take the high-speed train from Beijing to Tianjin and back later this week.

The ministers are in China from today until Friday for a special meeting to mark the 10th anniversary of their strategic partnership. At the meeting, they will take stock of the relations over the past decade, look ahead to the future and discuss ways of handling problems over the South China Sea. Of course, the codes of conduct will be on the agenda.

Activities scheduled for them in Tianjin are merely visits to the Tianjin Planning Exhibition Hall, the ancient culture street and some meetings with local executives and officials.

Obviously the highlight of this trip is the high-speed train, as it showcases China's advanced transportation technology and offers the ministers a chance to experience it for themselves. Many ASEAN countries have been considering a similar railway system to boost their logistics and connectivity.

The Beijing-Tianjin high-speed train is believed to be the world's fastest conventional train service. It can hit a maximum speed of 330 kilometres per hour, taking just half an hour to cover the 117km between the two cities. Surely this should be enough to inspire the Southeast Asian leaders, whose trains can barely hit 60 to 80km per hour.

The railway system in many Southeast Asian countries, notably Thailand, is old and out-of-date as many were built more than 100 years ago and rarely developed since. In fact, some ASEAN nations don't even have a train service.

Laos's biggest dream for a long time has been to develop a proper railway system, yet the trains chugging between Nong Khai and Vientiane are more like the toy trains one would see at Disneyland.

Many nations in Southeast Asia have been planning to develop their own railway service as well as find ways to link it up with the rest of the region. Their ambition is the same - have faster trains that run through the region for the purpose of community building.

Several ASEAN members have one common dream - to have at least one high-speed train service so they can prove to the world that they are up-to-date in terms of technology. The biggest debate in Thailand at present is how much money is needed and how fast these trains will go.

Laos has recently announced that it is at the planning stage for a high-speed train, while Vietnam has said it is building a high-speed railway link between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Malaysia and Singapore have also recently announced a high-speed train link-up.

For China and Asean, a railway system is not just a means of transportation and logistics, but also has political connotations as it showcases a country's progressiveness, modernity, development and capability of the state as well as international cooperation and community building.

Hence, taking the high-speed train to Tianjin and back should light a spark among the ASEAN ministers of future cooperation, which should result in an advanced transport system.


-- The Nation 2013-08-28

[worgeordie]

Thailand needs to get to grip with the slow trains first,how many

derailments in the last few weeks,4-5,ok not much damage done

as the trains only run slowly,but a derailment on a high speed train,

thats a disaster on a grand scale, the other big thing is road crossing

on rail lines,Thais think they can beat the slow trains now,although

quite a few every year have found they cannot !,

Regards Worgeordie

[Sayonarax]

Why don't you try fixing what you got before you run off and kill off people.

[chainarong]

The only thing I can think of that would inspire the Asean leaders is, what's in it for me, they have no reason at this stage, in countries such as Lao, Cambodia, Burma and to a lesser extent Thailand to invest in such a cost ridden projects, high speed rail is just that ,high speed costs, countries with stronger economy's have studied this form of transport and have placed them on the shelf for the future, proper cost modeling would indicate this is the proper course of action for Thailand to take, one wounders about their modus operandi at PTP.

[Nooky2]

Let's say they build a high-speed rail link, who is going to maintain it? Who is going to build it?

A scary thought.

[bigbamboo]

The only high speed route that would make any sense would be from South East China through to ASEAN's de facto capital, Singapore.

[Head Snake]

I've ridden that Beijing/Tianjin train. Its great alternative to the dangerous road; but, there had been reports in recent years about the safety of he highspeed trains based on actual problems that have occurred on other routes.

How are they gonna have enough customers who will pay for the ride on a daily basis to pay for the politicians and maintenance? (a redundant cost I know as actual maintenance will be only a paper trail).

I would hope they take care of the water control/flood management first because that is a bigger concern

Edited August 28, 2013 by Head Snake

[asdecas]

With its lethal cocktail of grandstanding politicians, corruption and inability to run and maintain even a nineteenth-century railway network without weekly derailments, I look forward to the first HS rail line opening in Thailand. I shall likely be dead by then in any case, or at least mercifully housebound.

[Lammbock]

Well, I would appreciate a National High Speed train system from Bangkok to Sisaket, Kon Kaen, Nong kai, Chian Mai/Rai and other directions.

That would be nice

[Ianatlarge]

I am going to say it, I enjoy the slow trains of the Kingdom. The rattle of the carriages, the sway of the train, the chattering people on board. A relaxing and fun experience. Of course, it is also hot, noisy, sometimes dusty, always delayed, but still fun.

[Ricardo]

The only high speed route that would make any sense would be from South East China through to ASEAN's de facto capital, Singapore.

Correct-o-mundo !

And it's for speeding Chinese-freight exports, not local-passengers along-the-way, although part of the deal might stretch to allowing faster local passenger-trains to use it, if Thailand can think up a sensible way to do this, rather than this silly Hi-Speed Passenger/Perishable-Goods BS, which of course is a vote-winner & potential generator of brown-envelopes of mind-boggling proportions.

But where is the economic-study, to show that the Thai Hi-Speed network will generate sufficient extra economic-benefits, to justify the 50-year debt-burden which it would generate ?

Perhaps someone should ask former-DPM Chalerm to whip one up, shouldn't take more than 90-days, eh ?

[bangarang]

High speed trains = high speed derailments. Lets get a grip on the slow ones first before we start losing lives.

[nong38]

It may inspire them to see what is possible at one end of the spectrum but in Thailand's case they should fix their own internal system first and that is going to cost a lot of money, do they have it and is there a will to build a standard guage system at a high standard?

One station for Bangkok to service is just not sufficient for the current or future demand so the first thing is to build new stations in the capital, one for the west and south west, one for the north, one for the north east and one for the east and south east. They would need to either underground or further out from the centre and linked by an underground system to the current mass transit system.

On a north orbital ring line would be able to link all the new lines for interchanging from the regions and freight could by pass the city if required. Stations would need to have 6-12 platforms per station to cover for the future.

330kph sounds good but really that would cost the earth, 200kph is far more realistic if built to the right standard and that is the key, high standard.

The old metre guage system at Bangkok station could still be used for freight and commuters out to a distance of about 60kms.

THis will not come cheap and it will take time, one region at a time but it would be worthwhile and take a lot off the roads and safety would have to be built into the mindsets of anyone who is involved in such a project, proactive safety also needs to be introduced to prevent the ever popular de-railments.

Edited August 28, 2013 by nong38

[jobin]

Huge expense to build all such trackways. Many people displaced as no grade crossings permitted. Obviously you cannot have a cow, or a motorbike, on the track when a train at 300 km/hr comes along. China may 'loan' the money and extract all the timber, gold, sand, and whatever the CCP wants from T'land in exchange for the railway. The trains, unless heavily subsidized by the State, are very expensive to operate and ride. But they are fast and comfy.

[hansnl]

Instead of trying to get a "face" project working in Thailand it would be much better for Thailand to upgrade the existing rail system.

Relaying and renewing existing tracks would be a fantastic start.

Doubling tracks to the Northeast, the North, te South and to Rayong and installing a good safety system could result in more trains.

Make all road/train crossing safe by installing automatic gates reducing the number of collisions between trains and cars.

Buy in new locos, DMU's, carriages, available off the shelf and deliverable within two years on average.

When that works, try to find a good HST......

[trainman34014]

The only thing that 'lights a spark' in a Thai ministers brains is how much they can scam out of the project.

[lee b]

Hope they dont take the leaders from Bangkok to Chiang Mai on the current Thai trains !

[roego]

Speaking from Australia, I wish we had just one high speed rail service in the country.

Long distance trains quite slow.And expensive.

As for cost, the Chinese system is not cheap but is very well patronised. I travelled from Shenzen to Beijing 2400 k in about 9 and a half hours and first class was around US $25o . It was comfortable, cleanmfood okla.

Sydney has an underground, full of problems.Very slow very crowded.The other states no better.

​Queensland does have a tilt train, not cheap , and really not that fast.

China way out in front.

The Thai underground way in front of anything in Australia as is the Skyrail.

Yes the Thai long distance could do with an overhaul. And some good cleaners, But I still enjow the first class sleeper. Just not the sometimes seen cockroaches.

The Malaysian city KL city network is way in front of Australia, and the long distance is better than Thailand.

Of course the Singapore system just about oprates on time all the time and is good and cheap.

And can anyone tell me what is happening with the Vietnam..Cambodia..Thailand link

[RubbaJohnny]

Nice to see politicians being taken for a ride

[DekDaeng]

Thailand needs to get to grip with the slow trains first,how many

derailments in the last few weeks,4-5,ok not much damage done

as the trains only run slowly,but a derailment on a high speed train,

thats a disaster on a grand scale, the other big thing is road crossing

on rail lines,Thais think they can beat the slow trains now,although

quite a few every year have found they cannot !,

Regards Worgeordie

"but a derailment on a high speed train," sometimes called 'pink mist'.

[Robby nz]

Quite possibly a trip down Walking St in Pattaya would inspire quite a few of them as well, to unprecedented hights.