Thai editorial: Safe, clean, punctual trains: is it too much to ask?

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EDITORIAL
Safe, clean, punctual trains: is it too much to ask?
The Nation

After decades of huge losses and mounting fears over passenger safety, it's time for change at the State Railway of Thailand

BANGKOK: -- Following a lengthy court battle, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has agreed to pay Bt5.2 million in compensation to a woman passenger who was raped by a sleeper-train worker 13 years ago. Earlier this year, the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl, also by a sleeper-train worker, raised public concern over the safety of travelling by train.

Passenger safety is just one among many problems that have been haunting the SRT for decades.

The railway operator became a state enterprise in 1951, making it one of the country's oldest. It is also among the most uneconomic, with estimated accumulated losses totalling Bt50 billion.

And it's not just regular train routes that are a drain on public funds, but also the Airport Rail Link. The SRT's Bt100-billion electric train project connecting Suvarnabhumi Airport with downtown Bangkok is still operating at a loss.

Much of the SRT's revenue comes from the long-term lease of its properties across the country. Among its Bt120 billion in assets are coveted plots in Bangkok and other provinces, some of them harvesting high rental fees from shopping malls and hotels.

Thailand's rail service began 117 years ago during the reign of King Rama V, when carriages were still pulled by steam locomotives. At that time the country was among the first in the region, if not the continent, to boast the then-modern means of transport.

But more than a century later, Thailand's train service now lags behind those offered by our regional neighbours and, indeed, much of Asia. Plagued by complaints of chronic delays, lack of passenger safety, poor service and frequent accidents, rail travel here has lost the popularity it enjoys across much of the rest of the world.

In response there are calls for reform of the SRT to improve its efficiency and reduce its huge losses. One promising proposal is for structural change that splits the operator into two parts - one to manage property and the other to oversee train services.

However, attempts by previous governments to overhaul the SRT have met with strong opposition from its powerful labour union. Strikes by train workers have forced administrations to shelve their reform plans.

But after decades of financial losses and mounting public dissatisfaction at poor service, it is clear that the SRT is in urgent need of reform. It is now the responsibility of the government of General Prayut Chan-o-cha to make that happen. If deep and wide-ranging structural reform should prove too difficult, changes must at least be made to improve passenger safety, punctuality of trains, their cleanliness and the general service.

To mark 117 years of the Thai railway, the SRT has adopted the pledge "We will return as a national pride again". Rail travel might have been a source of great pride for Thailand in a previous age, but those days are long gone and show little sign of returning any time soon. For the SRT to keep its promise and reverse years of disappointing performance, lawmakers must have the courage to set a new direction for the state enterprise.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Safe-clean-punctual-trains-is-it-too-much-to-ask-30247604.html


-- The Nation 2014-11-13

[wangsuda]

"Safe, clean, punctual trains: is it too much to ask?" Obviously it is. You want safe, clean, punctual trains? Throw "Thainess" out the window and properly train workers, hold people accountable when they screw up, learn the art and necessity of maintenance, and actually invest back in to the rail system (instead of padding the pockets of the officials). If that is too hard, then outsource the entire rain system to the Japanese (and I mean everything - trains, tracks, cars, employees and management, maintenance, etc). Neither will ever happen here,

[Fiddlesticks]

Safe, clean, punctual trains: is it too much to ask?

Not at all! HOWEVER, in Thailand, safe and clean are very difficult to attain. As for punctuality in Thailand?

[lostinisaan]

Easiest solution: CHT. Chinese high speed trains will solve these problems. or not. Gessshhh

[ramrod711]

I thought all the problems at SRT were over once they established that all the derailments were being caused by evil spirits in the painting in one of the offices. I just don't understand, touching up the painting should have worked.

[Commerce]

"To mark 117 years of the Thai railway, the SRT has adopted the pledge "We will return as a national pride again". Rail travel might have been a source of great pride for Thailand in a previous age, but those days are long gone and show little sign of returning any time soon."

Those days are not long gone at all. In fact, we are still living in them, and that's the problem. Always 40-60 years behind what others are doing, including locally, is what Thailand loves to practice most.

[chainarong]

The error lies right at the heart of successive Thai Administrations , it costs heaps of money to run a national rail system and to keep up with the joneses , to continual update and keep modern and abreast of latest in techknowledge development is the bane of all systems throughout the world, gradually over time with budget cutbacks, disinterest by politicians the system is now in the pits and on life support, unfortunately Thailand will possibly disappoint with the new concepts that are to be introduced by the Prayuth transparency Government -to- government agreement, they will have a modern system with limited knowledge how to work it..

[keeniau96]

Clean, safe, punctual. In Thailand pick any two, maybe only one.

[baboon]

Either spend some proper money on the SRT or have a crappy rail system. Its up to you. Slogans achieve nothing whatsoever.

[jaywalker]

"The railway operator became a state enterprise in 1951"

Therein, My Dear Watson, lies the problem. Kinda like AMTRAK (guv'ment backed) in the USA operates at a loss every year, just like the US Postal System. Last time I tried an AMTRAK ride Orlando - Savannah, it was 5 hours late.

A privately owned operator would probably run it at a profit, hence being able to upgrade & maintain the system.

Compare the USPS with FedEx, UPS & DHL....They don't lose money every year. If they did, they would've gone the way of the dodo bird years ago.

[klauskunkel]

Safe, clean, punctual trains: is it too much to ask?

Yes, it is. For it means to spend their budget on safe, clean and punctual trains, which is plain boring. Glamorous Head Quarters, Sci Fi Projects, Study Trips abroad, that's much more sanook...and therefore inline with Thainess and Returning Happiness.

Edited November 13, 2014 by klauskunkel

[falangjim]

When will these safe trains stop running over pedestrians at RR crossings?

[FangFerang]

The military government does not yet seem to realize that the one aspect of all enterprises most susceptible to corruption is always the maintenance department. Fake receipts are quite inexpensive. I hope one of the Thai onlookers here will pass this information along.

The train schedules exhibit a weird form of misinformation, perhaps even a cover up, in that the schedules have not been revised for decades, but the train engineers (the pilots) know exactly where the tracks are dodgy and slow to a snail's crawl when crossing the well-known structurally dubious patches of track.

Two cases of workers raping passengers...so now the....passengers are not allowed to drink alcohol (so it has been said here in TVF). This is Thainess, quintessentially, and maybe even refracted!

[Time Traveller]

The idiots blaming SRT should understand safe clean and punctual means higher ticket prices. Much higher ticket prices. I remember years ago travelling to from Bangkok and catching the the train to Aranyapratet. The ticket price was like 19 baht. Sure it was an hour late arriving and had to stand for half the journey, but the equivalent trip in a bus would have been 5 or 10 times the the train fare. Was any train passenger going to complain? No,

Under the circumstances without vastly higher ticket prices and/or much more government funding then thailand's rail system will continue to resemble India's trains. Only stupid people expect it to be like modern Japanese or Chinese High speed rail system..

Edited November 13, 2014 by Time Traveller

[wangsuda]

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The idiots blaming SRT should understand safe clean and punctual means higher ticket prices. Much higher ticket prices. I remember years ago travelling to from Bangkok and catching the the train to Aranyapratet. The ticket price was like 19 baht. Sure it was an hour late arriving and had to stand for half the journey, but the equivalent trip in a bus would have been 5 or 10 times the the train fare.

Under the circumstances without vastly higher ticket prices and/or much more government funding then thailand's rail system will resemble India's trains. It won't be like modern Japanese or Chinese High speed rails..

If you've taken the train from Bangkok Noi to Kanchanaburi, you already pay four times as much as a Thai national. There is no improvement in service.

[sprq]

"it's time for change at the State Railway of Thailand" It has been for 40 years, and nothing is ever done, because "strong opposition from its powerful labour union" always prevents it. If that story changes, I'll be surprised.

[sprq]

The idiots blaming SRT should understand safe clean and punctual means higher ticket prices. Much higher ticket prices. I remember years ago travelling to from Bangkok and catching the the train to Aranyapratet. The ticket price was like 19 baht. Sure it was an hour late arriving and had to stand for half the journey, but the equivalent trip in a bus would have been 5 or 10 times the the train fare. Was any train passenger going to complain? No,

Under the circumstances without vastly higher ticket prices and/or much more government funding then thailand's rail system will continue to resemble India's trains. Only stupid people expect it to be like modern Japanese or Chinese High speed rail system..

India's trains are a good deal better, actually, and the model for Thailand is not a high speed system. Thailand just needs the kind of express train system on standard dual tracks which has existed in Europe for half a century.

[Strangebrew]

In answer to the question I'll sum it up for : In a word NO!!!!!!

[Searat7]

The first thing I would do is transfer operation of the Airport Link to the company running the BTS. There is no excuse for the lack of maintenance planning which has taken many of their trains offline. The BTS could use advertising on sides of trains to increase their revenue. Then the SRT could concentrate on their core business which is in awful shape.

[Cuchulainn]

Simple answer: yes.

[DrTuner]

Diligence goes against Thainess. So the answer is yes.