Dual track railway: Chinese officials to visit locations in Nong Khai next month

[webfact]

DUAL-TRACK RAILWAY
Chinese officials to visit locations in Nong Khai next month

BANGKOK: -- Chinese representatives will next month visit Nong Khai province to survey locations for the construction of the Thai-Chinese dual track railway from Nongkhai to Bangkok and Rayong provinces.

Transport Minister Prajin Juntong visited Bejing last week to co-chair a meeting with China on the joint development project of a 1.435-meter standard-gauge rail network (Nong Khai-Nakhon Ratchasima- Kaeng Khoi-Map Ta Phut).

Prajin said the construction would proceed in the form of a G-2-G joint project. China would commit to the Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) and lend Thailand the construction budget at lower-than-2% interest. The loan will also be interest free for the first four years of the twenty-year installments agreement.

Representatives of the two countries will re-convene when they visit Nong Khai on March 10-11 where Chinese representatives will survey locations for the construction of railway stations and an interchange for the Lao route. Raising public understanding about the project is also one of the important activities during the visit.

During the visit, China and Thailand will sign a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on the distribution of the work involved, which will be a clear guide for each country to fulfill its obligations.

Thailand will basically take on more than half of all works, comprising land expropriation, EIA appproval, civil jobs and planning for commercial developments around the railway.

China will undertake the observation, design and other tasks needing highly advanced technology such as tunnel boring and mountain road building. Construction of a Maintenance Center will be undertaken by China in the first phase, before being forwarded to the Thai operation.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Chinese-officials-to-visit-locations-in-Nong-Khai--30254272.html


-- The Nation 2015-02-17

[ChrisY1]

Oh my.......this is starting to move fast........probably way to fast for our mates here in Thailand............

[Beng]

Do they get the new brochure as well ??

Edited February 17, 2015 by Beng

[ExPratt]

Did anyone see the article in the BKK today , about China not getting all of the Railways because of interest rate charge. Surprised there is no thread

Also gives detail of how this line will be broken up

[ratcatcher]

I'm quite impressed by the article. For once, no mention of High Speed Trains or High Speed Track (is there such?)

Perhaps, after all, they, the Chinese or Japanese will build a quality standard gauge, double track railway that can handle suitably fast passenger and freight trains with adequate bridges and tunnels and stations.

Perhaps it will be good for the Thais to get into the 20th century with their railways before attempting too much 21st century hype.

[ExPratt]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Oh my.......this is starting to move fast........probably way to fast for our mates here in Thailand............

Thailands part of Land appropriation is a critical one . A project in Malaysia was delayed by 11 months due to late land acquisition. Cost the Government a fortune in Delay payments to contractors

Edited February 18, 2015 by ExPratt

[ratcatcher]

oops, reread rt,

studies will show if more cost effective to stay with thai guage rather than the wider........of course, if not utilizing existing rail infrastructure then certainly the wider the better and standardize to tie in with malaysia, myramar, lao and cambodia.

good luck thailand............ great to see the future is looking positive.

Cost effective hasn't got a lot to do with this equation. China has utilized standard gauge,1,435mm, and that is what any new construction in Thailand will consist of.

Laos has a few yards of railway track, Myanmar has meter gauge as does Cambodia (In a state of semi dereliction).

The interesting thing is that the main line north from Singapore to Padang Besar in the north (Thai border) is metre gauge

So, the question is, what will the Chinese and Japanese use to get their freight from China to Singapore and from Cambodia to Dawei (The Japanese project)?

ExPratt over to you?

Track gauge in Thailand needs to be standardized. Airport Express, MRT and BTS all standard gauge.

[ExPratt]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

oops, reread rt,

studies will show if more cost effective to stay with thai guage rather than the wider........of course, if not utilizing existing rail infrastructure then certainly the wider the better and standardize to tie in with malaysia, myramar, lao and cambodia.

good luck thailand............ great to see the future is looking positive.

Cost effective hasn't got a lot to do with this equation. China has utilized standard gauge,1,435mm, and that is what any new construction in Thailand will consist of.

Laos has a few yards of railway track, Myanmar has meter gauge as does Cambodia (In a state of semi dereliction).

The interesting thing is that the main line north from Singapore to Padang Besar in the north (Thai border) is metre gauge

So, the question is, what will the Chinese and Japanese use to get their freight from China to Singapore and from Cambodia to Dawei (The Japanese project)?

ExPratt over to you?

Track gauge in Thailand needs to be standardized. Airport Express, MRT and BTS all standard gauge.

Well for Malaysia 1m gauge is fine , as you know it runs now with a new double track from PB to KL, they will finish off down to Johor(sing border) in the next few years , land disputes are holding it up now. Malaysia and the Malay(Muslim) dominated Government have no intention of entertaining China, the Malaysian Chinese are very powerful in the country and the Malays don't want then getting more Kudos by firing a HS train through there,

There is a High speed planned from KL to Singapore in the next few years, so thats how much they don't want the Chinese in , they'll build their own with Singapore and leave a 600k gap between PB and KL

Standard Gauge for Thailand makes sense higher speed available than 1 metre gauge , but I'd say they are doing it to accommodate the Chinese, There is nothing wrong with new built 1 metre gauge , Track design 180, av line speed 160

[ratcatcher]

thank you, so i imagine standard gauge it is. makes sense.

from what i have seen there is lots of room either side of existing tracks to put in new railbeds.

existing stations will be a challenge. when i was in china, it was exciting to speed thru a new station being built. engineer would slow down to 140-160 k.

wow, ya gotta'love'em, if there a mountain in the way, bore right on thru, no prob.................canada is trying to work with chinese since they are the best in handling steeper than usual grades.

good luck, the chinese figure they can get 'er done by 2020, original estimates i read awhile back

"...canada is trying to work with chinese since they are the best in handling steeper than usual grades."

Where are the Chinese working in Canada on the railway? Are there any real steep grades in Thailand except for the hills around Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai?

130 years ago, the Chinese labourers under Canadian supervision punched the Canadian Pacific railway through B.C. and the Rocky Mountains in western Canada. The Chinese have built the railways to Tibet and they have a lot of practice. Thailand will be a walk in the park for them.