Thailand-China begin discussion on rail cooperation

[webfact]

Thailand-China begin discussion on rail cooperation

BANGKOK, 22 January 2015 (NNT) – The first joint discussion between Thailand and China on the railroad and infrastructure development project started today, with construction expected go ahead as planned according to the agreed time frame.

The Thai Minister of Transport Air Chief Marshal Prajin Juntong and the Vice Chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Hu Zucai presided over the joint meeting on the rail infrastructure development project of Thailand on 21-22 January 2015 at the Ministry of Transport.

The Minister of Transport said that this meeting was held in wake of a Memorandum of Understanding agreed between Thailand and China on Thailand’s 2015-2022 transport infrastructure development plan by the Prime Ministers of Thailand and China.

The main theme for this joint meeting is the preparations for project exploration and design from both countries, as well as the estimation of the total costs involved in the project and the arrangement of joint investments, said the Transport Minister.

The infrastructure development project is considered as a key project of Thailand that will help expand the economy, create more jobs, increase the government’s revenue from taxation, and will be beneficial to both Thailand and China in connectivity, trade, and tourism, said the Minister of Transport.

The NDRC Vice Chairman has said that China has the expertise in the construction of modern railroads, while the objective in this meeting is to ensure that all the process will be proceeded according to the roadmap.

He has also stressed that he is confident that this cooperation between Thailand and China will be a good example to other countries.


-- NNT 2015-01-22

[ExPratt]

"The main theme for this joint meeting is the preparations for project exploration and design from both countries, as well as the estimation of the total costs involved in the project and the arrangement of joint investments, said the Transport Minister."

Won't be starting just yet then . I hope they will still finish in 2016

[chainarong]

I think I've missed the train on this one , the Thai transport Minister is a Air Chief Marshal , that says a lot , a few weeks back we had somebody gnashing their jaws that the line from Lao border to BKK would take 2 years , now that implied that it was all signed sealed and delivered ,as how would you know it would take 2 years, now we begin discussion on rail co-operation, what a way to run a bloody country , nobody has a clue what anybody is doing , probably why it has such a large supporter base.

[ExPratt]

I'm interested to see the alignment they use. Because they are building the new Railway with Standard gauge it becomes problematic building using part of the old alignment. Standard practice if the old and new gauge is the same is to built one line or as much as you can build adjacent to the old track and divert traffic on the 1 new track , then rip out the old and build Track 2 on that alignment , you cannot do that if each tracks gauges are different. There is a way of doing it with dual gauge sleepers but its not cheap or easy. If they go for new alignment not on the old alignment the land acquisitions are very expensive and extremely time consuming

When you consider the time frame. They may break ground on the Formation and civils work later this year but I cannot see any significant progress with Track construction until mid 2016

Edited January 21, 2015 by ExPratt

[ourmanflint]

As far as can be found on tinterweb, the railway line from China is still a few years away from the Lao border on the chinese side. The Lao railway to Vientiane from the Chinese border is nowhere near agreement, there isn't yet even a decent service road going as far as Vientiane from Luang Namtha, though there is a new Chinese road heading to Chiang Khong. Yet the Thai government is racing ahead to build a railway line to Nong Khai?? The whole thing stinks to be honest and might just prove to be a huge waste of money and time.

[rickirs]

I have visions that in 2017 Thailand will have its rail line to Laos, then nothing onward to China because of complications between China and Laos. Meanwhile Thailand will be paying its debt service on the line to China.