Prayuth supports double-track project
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- National Council for Peace and Order Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha said Friday that he supports the double-track railway project while indicating his opposition to the high-speed train project.

He said the construction of a double-track railway would facilitate both goods and passengers transportation.

But he added he did not believe that any firm or country would build a high-speed train project in Thialand for free.

"It's been said that the electric [high-speed] train lines would be built for free. I would like to ask if there is anything free in this world," said Prayuth during a budget meeting that was broadcast live.

"You should ask yourselves whether you can accept a 50-year concession that would see more than 100,000 workers being brought to the country and the constructor insisting on land along the route for development."

The Pheu Thai government, which proposed a high-speed train project, claimed that China would build it for Thailand free of charge.


-- The Nation 2014-06-13

So this sort of suggests that the dual tracked lines won't be electrified and they will continue to run diesel train services. This is exactly why we can't have military generals who have no idea what they are talking about from running the country....

A good double track train system with some new equipment would be a huge improvement over what they have now.... I can't see who would pay to build a Japanese like bullet train here

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So this sort of suggests that the dual tracked lines won't be electrified and they will continue to run diesel train services. This is exactly why we can't have military generals who have no idea what they are talking about from running the country....

Don't be so depressed, they have it in Birma for many years

Good to see Prayuth isn't puckering up to the old motherland. Unlike the former rulers who's genes hail from there.

Apropos trains in ASEAN ...

So this sort of suggests that the dual tracked lines won't be electrified and they will continue to run diesel train services. This is exactly why we can't have military generals who have no idea what they are talking about from running the country....

your comments show why you are here retired and not an employer. My country has one of the best long distance goods and passenger services in the world. DIESEL TRAINS. Prayuth is stopping Chinese takeover

Ps that country is Australia is you know how to spell it

So this sort of suggests that the dual tracked lines won't be electrified and they will continue to run diesel train services. This is exactly why we can't have military generals who have no idea what they are talking about from running the country....

Double tracking precludes later electrification???? Why?

Good to see Prayuth isn't puckering up to the old motherland. Unlike the former rulers who's genes hail from there.

Believe the "Chan" in the name is indicative of Chinese heritage/ancestry?

Not that it should make any difference, I think both Thaksin Shinawatra and Abhisit Vejjajiva are both ethnic Han.

So this sort of suggests that the dual tracked lines won't be electrified and they will continue to run diesel train services. This is exactly why we can't have military generals who have no idea what they are talking about from running the country....

your comments show why you are here retired and not an employer. My country has one of the best long distance goods and passenger services in the world. DIESEL TRAINS. Prayuth is stopping Chinese takeover

Is that why, at 40kph they keep derailing and falling off the tracks?

I would have though that replacing single tracks with double would be a good step in upgrading the rail network.

There may well be other factors - such as which guage to use and what rolling stock is the future.......

So this sort of suggests that the dual tracked lines won't be electrified and they will continue to run diesel train services. This is exactly why we can't have military generals who have no idea what they are talking about from running the country....

your comments show why you are here retired and not an employer. My country has one of the best long distance goods and passenger services in the world. DIESEL TRAINS. Prayuth is stopping Chinese takeover

No, electrified trains provide much faster acceleration and deceleration due to the fact that power lines can provide a lot more power to the electric motors compared to a diesel electric system, and allow for much smaller headway between different services operating on the same line as well as allowing for much greater speeds (meter gauge electrified lines can run trains up to 160 km/h which is more than enough for Thailand right now). And what does this have anything to do with a Chinese takeover? I'm talking about electrified meter gauge lines like what they have just done in Malaysia, not high speed rail.

Australia is far less dense than Thailand so it is not economically viable to electrify the majority of its lines. But it does have about 2500 KM worth of electrified train lines in the densely populated South-Eastern regions.

Please read more about railway electrification and its advantages and where it is viable to be implemented.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_electrification_system#Advantages

good call. Why high speed trains when neighbouring countries are too not developed? It's economically and practically not feasible, while the double track projects benefits all ...

So this sort of suggests that the dual tracked lines won't be electrified and they will continue to run diesel train services. This is exactly why we can't have military generals who have no idea what they are talking about from running the country....

your comments show why you are here retired and not an employer. My country has one of the best long distance goods and passenger services in the world. DIESEL TRAINS. Prayuth is stopping Chinese takeover

No, electrified trains provide much faster acceleration and deceleration due to the fact that power lines can provide a lot more power to the electric motors compared to a diesel electric system, and allow for much smaller headway between different services operating on the same line as well as allowing for much greater speeds (meter gauge electrified lines can run trains up to 160 km/h which is more than enough for Thailand right now). And what does this have anything to do with a Chinese takeover? I'm talking about electrified meter gauge lines like what they have just done in Malaysia, not high speed rail.

Australia is far less dense than Thailand so it is not economically viable to electrify the majority of its lines. But it does have about 2500 KM worth of electrified train lines in the densely populated South-Eastern regions.

Please read more about railway electrification and its advantages and where it is viable to be implemented.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_electrification_system#Advantages

What does this strawman argument have to do with double tracking? Why does double tracking preclude future electrification?

So this sort of suggests that the dual tracked lines won't be electrified and they will continue to run diesel train services. This is exactly why we can't have military generals who have no idea what they are talking about from running the country....

your comments show why you are here retired and not an employer. My country has one of the best long distance goods and passenger services in the world. DIESEL TRAINS. Prayuth is stopping Chinese takeover

No, electrified trains provide much faster acceleration and deceleration due to the fact that power lines can provide a lot more power to the electric motors compared to a diesel electric system, and allow for much smaller headway between different services operating on the same line as well as allowing for much greater speeds (meter gauge electrified lines can run trains up to 160 km/h which is more than enough for Thailand right now). And what does this have anything to do with a Chinese takeover? I'm talking about electrified meter gauge lines like what they have just done in Malaysia, not high speed rail.

Australia is far less dense than Thailand so it is not economically viable to electrify the majority of its lines. But it does have about 2500 KM worth of electrified train lines in the densely populated South-Eastern regions.

Please read more about railway electrification and its advantages and where it is viable to be implemented.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_electrification_system#Advantages

What does this strawman argument have to do with double tracking? Why does double tracking preclude future electrification?

There is a loss of opportunity here if it isn't done in 1 go, Thailand will lose its competitive edge compared to countries like Malaysia which have already completed their electrification of their systems. Malaysia did the dual tracking and electrification in 1 go and it has been extremely successful for them. This is a mid step and a compromise between high speed rail and a basic dual track train system. Seriously have you seen how slow things are done here, if you are going to wait for the entire double tracking to be done and then wait for the electrification and wait for the electric rolling stock later then countries like Vietnam will swallow Thailand's competitive edge of which it is already seriously lacking.

"The Pheu Thai government, which proposed a high-speed train project, claimed that China would build it for Thailand free of charge."

I don't recall that bit, surely the Chinese were willing to build their High-speed freight-line China-Singapore-via-Thailand, but then PTP decided it should be a passenger-network serving anywhere there were voters, and that Thailand should borrow 50-year loans to pay for it ?

What does this strawman argument have to do with double tracking? Why does double tracking preclude future electrification?

There is a loss of opportunity here if it isn't done in 1 go, Thailand will lose its competitive edge compared to countries like Malaysia which have already completed their electrification of their systems. Malaysia did the dual tracking and electrification in 1 go and it has been extremely successful for them. This is a mid step and a compromise between high speed rail and a basic dual track train system. Seriously have you seen how slow things are done here, if you are going to wait for the entire double tracking to be done and then wait for the electrification and wait for the electric rolling stock later then countries like Vietnam will swallow Thailand's competitive edge of which it is already seriously lacking.

So the General should borrow a huge amount (say B2.2 trillion?) to do everything at once, and hope that his grandchildren won't mind the debt burden? Where have I heard that tripe before?

This is even more of a waste of money than building HSR. Dual tracking the existing 3ft 3in gauge is almost worthless. You cant run heavy freight and certainly nothing that approaches relatively high speed passenger services. So what exactly is the point? Unless they want to rip up the existing track and replace it with good quality standard gauge track, you'd actually be better off wasting money on HSR...at least that would actually be capable of doing what is supposed to do!

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So this sort of suggests that the dual tracked lines won't be electrified and they will continue to run diesel train services. This is exactly why we can't have military generals who have no idea what they are talking about from running the country....

Not necessary, you can have narrow gage electric trains, however, if ever the time was right to change to standard gage , where the goods can carry a heavier/longer load is now , it would be remiss of Thailand to stay with narrow gage and not come up to 2014, the advantages far out way the disadvantages , in the future, as you can keep adding on with standard gage 5Klm trains , narrow gage you are restricted in length, 72.wagons.

What does this strawman argument have to do with double tracking? Why does double tracking preclude future electrification?

There is a loss of opportunity here if it isn't done in 1 go, Thailand will lose its competitive edge compared to countries like Malaysia which have already completed their electrification of their systems. Malaysia did the dual tracking and electrification in 1 go and it has been extremely successful for them. This is a mid step and a compromise between high speed rail and a basic dual track train system. Seriously have you seen how slow things are done here, if you are going to wait for the entire double tracking to be done and then wait for the electrification and wait for the electric rolling stock later then countries like Vietnam will swallow Thailand's competitive edge of which it is already seriously lacking.

So the General should borrow a huge amount (say B2.2 trillion?) to do everything at once, and hope that his grandchildren won't mind the debt burden? Where have I heard that tripe before?

Well he just approved a 3 trillion baht plan so.... And it won't cos anywhere near as much as a a true high speed rail system. To be honest I don't understand how his plan excluding the high speed rail system costs 800 billion more than PTPs proposition even including the airport upgrades.

Apropos trains in ASEAN ...

Nice fake / photoshop

Of course these highspeed trains in Cambodia, Burma, Indonesia, Laos and Malaysia (from upper left) do not exist.

In reality the pictures are from Germany, Russia, Japan, China, France.

An "original" picture shows an oldish USA train in the lower right.

Replaced by the Thai train in this photoshop.

Laos has basically no train system at all e.g.

"You should ask yourselves whether you can accept a 50-year concession that would see more than 100,000 workers being brought to the country and the constructor insisting on land along the route for development."

I suspect this is the real reason. Whenever China does big infrastructure projects in other countries like Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and even African countries they bring in Chinese laborers. Often times these laborers don't return to China and stay put whether they have a visa or not. The General is right to be concerned.

.......The Pheu Thai government, which proposed a high-speed train project, claimed that China would build it for Thailand free of charge..........

and they'd pocket the money, of course. Typical PTP. Corrupt and arrogant to the core.

Believe the "Chan" in the name is indicative of Chinese heritage/ancestry?

Not that it should make any difference, I think both Thaksin Shinawatra and Abhisit Vejjajiva are both ethnic Han.

They are ethnic Han but cultural Hakka, no Mandarin speakers but Hakka language.

Thailand has some different group of Sino-Thais.

1. The old chinese group of Siam (Taksin of TAK was a Chinese King of Thailand), short time.

2. The Mandarin group in the North, most Kuomintang refugees after their defeat in China.

3. The Hakka Chinese (read "letters from Thailand" by Botan) as refugees by the sea.

4. The"sea gypsies" in Phuket area are an other group of chinese refugees the last centuries.

So this sort of suggests that the dual tracked lines won't be electrified and they will continue to run diesel train services. This is exactly why we can't have military generals who have no idea what they are talking about from running the country....

You think the OP suggests and therefor you state "that's why we can't have ..."

Now just for a moment imagine that dual-tracking doesn't implicitly nor explicitly mean 'no electrification'

So this sort of suggests that the dual tracked lines won't be electrified and they will continue to run diesel train services. This is exactly why we can't have military generals who have no idea what they are talking about from running the country....

What the hell are you talking about?

He was saying he didn't back 'high speed' electric projects.

Nothing said about they were staying diesel... In fact in the last report he actually said they are backing 10 electric lines.

So your argument is based on nothing more than your terrible ability to read and understand basic English.

Prayuth is doing an amazing job and I would love to see him as a PM on a permanent basis.... he is getting things done at lightening speed.

a train that does not derail every other week would be a good start

maybe some education for the drivers & maintenance?

why 100.000 foreign workers , thais to good to build ? why not the army, while they are not at war with anybody, for the benefit of the country...

So this sort of suggests that the dual tracked lines won't be electrified and they will continue to run diesel train services. This is exactly why we can't have military generals who have no idea what they are talking about from running the country....

Hey stop knocking the guy --walk before you can run is what the guy is saying.

So this sort of suggests that the dual tracked lines won't be electrified and they will continue to run diesel train services. This is exactly why we can't have military generals who have no idea what they are talking about from running the country....

Yes, because all of the recent civilian governments paid so much attention to the rail network and did such a great job of it.