CP to invest in Bangkok-Pattaya- Rayong high speed train

[Thaivisa News]

Bangkok: – Charoen Pokphand Group and two investment partners from China and Hong Kong have reaffirmed Bt1.52 trillion proposal for the Bangkok-Pattaya-Rayong high speed train service.

Transport Minister PrajinJuntong said CP investment consortium will include CITIC Construction, based in Hong Kong and HNA Group from Hainan, China.

CITICwill be responsible for design and construction while HNA is specialised in the development and management of port, airport and rail facilities.

Prajin said the high speed train route will be 194 kilometers.

The Bangkok-Rayong train service will be from Lad Krabang to Bang Pakong to Chon Buri to Pattaya and to Rayong.

CP consortium has yet to finalise the decision on the model for public-private partnership. It is presently mulling on the build-operate-transfer model.

The transport minister said the consortium has scheduled May 9 to submit additional details of its investment proposal, including the designation of construction sites for train stations.

After receiving the additional details, the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning will start to review and draw conclusion on the feasibility study of the investment project, he said.

The outcome of the review would then be submitted for the Cabinet approval, he added.

In addition to the feasibility review, the Cabinet approval of the project would also hinge on the outcome of the environmental impact assessment report, he said.

The environmental impacts are being assessed in four critical areas on the planned train route, he said.

He voiced optimism that the investment project would be ready to seek and receive the government green light by the end of next month.

It is the government’s priority to streamline public investmenton high speed train transportation, he said.

[Local Drunk]

Fantastic! I'm sure that at least one car on the train will be a 7/11.

Typical passenger who is Pattaya bound: "What do you mean you can't sale beer?

Steward: No sir, If you want to buy beer, then you need to take the 8am, the 5 pm, 11am or the 3am from Bangkok to Pattaya. It's the law sir.. May I offer you a microwaved processed ham and processed cheese sandwich on a sweet white bread with a bag of processed savory fish flavoured spicy crisps and an overly sweet Coke instead; all wrapped in tidy plastic bags? (spoken in broken Thaiglish)

Typical passenger who is Pattaya bound: Huh...? What the hell am I supposed to do for the next 15 minutes?

A bit of satire...

[rubl]

"Bt1.52 trillion proposal for the Bangkok-Pattaya-Rayong high speed train service." ?

A nasty typo, the budget is THB 152 billion only.

Five years ago we had

"By contrast, a route from Bangkok to Bang Pakong and Rayong would measure 194 kilometres. Investment costs with a 160 km/h train system would total 52.1 billion baht with an EIRR of 9.85%. Using the 250 km/h train system would raise investment costs to 53.6 billion baht with an EIRR of 13.25%."

With a change of government we also had a change of plans. In 2012 as part of the 2.2 trillion Infrastructure Scheme we had as follows (still looking for expected costs of this part only)

"Running the track from Bangkok to Chachoengsao to Rayong would extend the route to 221 kilometres."

Now we are back to the route from five years ago. In March we had a 196km Bangkok-Pattaya-Rayong route, costing 152 billion for which the EIA was just completed

[WAERTH]

CP Thailands monopolist getting their hands into trains. Expect ticket prices to raise 100fold

[ratcatcher]

Fantastic! I'm sure that at least one car on the train will be a 7/11.

Typical passenger who is Pattaya bound: "What do you mean you can't sale beer?

Steward: No sir, If you want to buy beer, then you need to take the 8am, the 5 pm, 11am or the 3am from Bangkok to Pattaya. It's the law sir.. May I offer you a microwaved processed ham and processed cheese sandwich on a sweet white bread with a bag of processed savory fish flavoured spicy crisps and an overly sweet Coke instead; all wrapped in tidy plastic bags? (spoken in broken Thaiglish)

Typical passenger who is Pattaya bound: Huh...? What the hell am I supposed to do for the next 15 minutes?

A bit of satire...

Good one LD, no need for the last comment, this whole subject can be satirized. I expect Charoen Pokhphand will give every passenger a free 2kg bag of rice as they speed towards Sin City East.

[phoenixdoglover]

No competitive process, eh? The money must be flowing.

[Ricardo]

Hope it runs more often than the current SRT daily-service !

[givenall]

Must be a chicken run

[Asiantravel]

Fantastic! I'm sure that at least one car on the train will be a 7/11.

Typical passenger who is Pattaya bound: "What do you mean you can't sale beer?

Steward: No sir, If you want to buy beer, then you need to take the 8am, the 5 pm, 11am or the 3am from Bangkok to Pattaya. It's the law sir.. May I offer you a microwaved processed ham and processed cheese sandwich on a sweet white bread with a bag of processed savory fish flavoured spicy crisps and an overly sweet Coke instead; all wrapped in tidy plastic bags? (spoken in broken Thaiglish)

Typical passenger who is Pattaya bound: Huh...? What the hell am I supposed to do for the next 15 minutes?

A bit of satire...

Good one LD, no need for the last comment, this whole subject can be satirized. I expect Charoen Pokhphand will give every passenger a free 2kg bag of rice as they speed towards Sin City East.

No.......... passengers on board will be able to order any food they like.......... as long as it's one of these

Edited April 24, 2015 by Asiantravel

[sprq]

What does "high speed" mean here? If it means a bullet train or TGV type system, then the idea is idiotic. The countries which already have this kind of high-speed train run them only between major cities, because that is the only viable proposition for making a profit. In Thailand, the only viable high-speed train route is Bangkok-Chiang Mai. That is the only route which could generate the necessary traffic and revenue. Amen. Bangkok-Pattaya-Rayong is a nonsense route for this kind of train.

[MobileContent]

Charoen Pokphand Group and two investment partners from China and Hong Kong have reaffirmed Bt1.52 trillion proposal for the Bangkok-Pattaya-Rayong high speed train service.

I think under Prayuth everything would have some transparency and their would be a closed tender.

[dominique355]

CP Thailands monopolist getting their hands into trains. Expect ticket prices to raise 100fold

Not TRUE. Only a Vision

[Maeklong]

From Rayong east, CP is probably the largest private land owner, especially near the sea. CP owns a lot of land on Koh Chang and owns both ferries to Koh Chang. CP's largest shrimp hatchery is near the ferries, and they have a number of shrimp farms that can be seen when flying in to Trat Airport. I remember reading that CP also owns most of some of the smaller islands to the east of Koh Chang. CP is thinking thinking about making money from a lot more than just 7-11's.

[thailandforumaddict]

What does "high speed" mean here? If it means a bullet train or TGV type system, then the idea is idiotic. The countries which already have this kind of high-speed train run them only between major cities, because that is the only viable proposition for making a profit. In Thailand, the only viable high-speed train route is Bangkok-Chiang Mai. That is the only route which could generate the necessary traffic and revenue. Amen. Bangkok-Pattaya-Rayong is a nonsense route for this kind of train.

Totally wrong in my idea.

The only viable route is Bkk - Pattaya because people will pay 1000 thb for it.

How much would you pay for Bkk - Chiagmai ? 5000 ? 4000 more than a plane ? I don't think many will do, so for sure it will be more difficult to get profit from Bkk Chiangmai, anyway with the pollution people will also soon understand how this city is useless, and why going so far for nothing that you do not have around Bkk (just as sea jungle at Kanchanaburi is only 2 hours from BKK).

[dragonfly94]

Great, folks will be able to escape from the place quicker than ever.

[ExPratt]

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

What does "high speed" mean here? If it means a bullet train or TGV type system, then the idea is idiotic. The countries which already have this kind of high-speed train run them only between major cities, because that is the only viable proposition for making a profit. In Thailand, the only viable high-speed train route is Bangkok-Chiang Mai. That is the only route which could generate the necessary traffic and revenue. Amen. Bangkok-Pattaya-Rayong is a nonsense route for this kind of train.

High speed is really anything over 220kph. Bullet train like Germans ICE or Japan or Taiwan Shinkansen all about 300 kph on Track slab

I think a high speed for that section would be highly inappropriate, a 1 metre gauge 160km Double Track would be adequate. Not sure what the Trillion baht bit is all about typo you'd hope

[rubl]

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

What does "high speed" mean here? If it means a bullet train or TGV type system, then the idea is idiotic. The countries which already have this kind of high-speed train run them only between major cities, because that is the only viable proposition for making a profit. In Thailand, the only viable high-speed train route is Bangkok-Chiang Mai. That is the only route which could generate the necessary traffic and revenue. Amen. Bangkok-Pattaya-Rayong is a nonsense route for this kind of train.

High speed is really anything over 220kph. Bullet train like Germans ICE or Japan or Taiwan Shinkansen all about 300 kph on Track slab

I think a high speed for that section would be highly inappropriate, a 1 metre gauge 160km Double Track would be adequate. Not sure what the Trillion baht bit is all about typo you'd hope

I think speeds over 100 km/h require standard gauge tracks, not 1-metre gauge.

[greenchair]

Doesn't Suthep own a large part of cp. Is he getting his goodies back now.???

[ExPratt]

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

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

What does "high speed" mean here? If it means a bullet train or TGV type system, then the idea is idiotic. The countries which already have this kind of high-speed train run them only between major cities, because that is the only viable proposition for making a profit. In Thailand, the only viable high-speed train route is Bangkok-Chiang Mai. That is the only route which could generate the necessary traffic and revenue. Amen. Bangkok-Pattaya-Rayong is a nonsense route for this kind of train.

High speed is really anything over 220kph. Bullet train like Germans ICE or Japan or Taiwan Shinkansen all about 300 kph on Track slab

I think a high speed for that section would be highly inappropriate, a 1 metre gauge 160km Double Track would be adequate. Not sure what the Trillion baht bit is all about typo you'd hope

I think speeds over 100 km/h require standard gauge tracks, not 1-metre gauge.

sorry you are misinformed ,just finished a project in Malaysia that was 1m gauge and 160 line speed

[ExPratt]

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

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

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

What does "high speed" mean here? If it means a bullet train or TGV type system, then the idea is idiotic. The countries which already have this kind of high-speed train run them only between major cities, because that is the only viable proposition for making a profit. In Thailand, the only viable high-speed train route is Bangkok-Chiang Mai. That is the only route which could generate the necessary traffic and revenue. Amen. Bangkok-Pattaya-Rayong is a nonsense route for this kind of train.

High speed is really anything over 220kph. Bullet train like Germans ICE or Japan or Taiwan Shinkansen all about 300 kph on Track slab

I think a high speed for that section would be highly inappropriate, a 1 metre gauge 160km Double Track would be adequate. Not sure what the Trillion baht bit is all about typo you'd hope

I think speeds over 100 km/h require standard gauge tracks, not 1-metre gauge.

sorry you are misinformed ,just finished a project in Malaysia that was 1m gauge and 160 line speed

Its all to do with the radius of curves and the narrower the gauge the higher the centre or gravity of the train the slower it can go round curves , Bearing in mind that most railways have a maximum Cant of 150mm. In theory if you had only straight track you could put a train on a 1 metre gauge doing 250kph

[rubl]

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

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

What does "high speed" mean here? If it means a bullet train or TGV type system, then the idea is idiotic. The countries which already have this kind of high-speed train run them only between major cities, because that is the only viable proposition for making a profit. In Thailand, the only viable high-speed train route is Bangkok-Chiang Mai. That is the only route which could generate the necessary traffic and revenue. Amen. Bangkok-Pattaya-Rayong is a nonsense route for this kind of train.

High speed is really anything over 220kph. Bullet train like Germans ICE or Japan or Taiwan Shinkansen all about 300 kph on Track slab

I think a high speed for that section would be highly inappropriate, a 1 metre gauge 160km Double Track would be adequate. Not sure what the Trillion baht bit is all about typo you'd hope

I think speeds over 100 km/h require standard gauge tracks, not 1-metre gauge.

sorry you are misinformed ,just finished a project in Malaysia that was 1m gauge and 160 line speed

OK. I assume the line you worked on has restrictions on curve radius and may be a special, 'shielded' track?

Note in part what I thought was based on the wiki page which has a.o.

"For example, theFederal Railroad Administration in the USA specifies that the actual gauge of track that is rated for a maximum of 60 mph (96.6 km/h) must be between 4 ft 8 in (1,420 mm) and 4 ft 9

¹⁄₂ in (1,460 mm)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_gauge

[rubl]

Doesn't Suthep own a large part of cp. Is he getting his goodies back now.?

No.

[ExPratt]

Rubi ,The 1 metre gauge line in Malaysia runs from Pedang Basar to Kl , 700 or so KM. Curves are dictated by the line speed , thefaster the line speed the longer the curves, For instance the smallest curve you can have on High speed track 300kph is 7000 metres , the smallest curve in Metro is usually about 180 metres, . But the highest cant on nearly all Railways never miore than 150mm Have a read up about "Rate of Change" in curves its how much you can lift the Cant in x amount of linear metres. High speed is 1mm in about 6 metres , so to get up to 150 cant its 6 metres x 150 and the same to get out of the curve . Metro is 3mm in 1 metre so the curves are tiny and tight , hence the screeching. Gauge plays a part but for average speed railways the only difference would be the axel load for freight IMO

I wouldn't get too wrapped up in US standards mate ,when it comes to Railways they are not state of the art

Edited April 24, 2015 by ExPratt

[SoilSpoil]

Well, the only way for Pattaya and Rayong to become Chinese megalopolises in the future is by having a proper infrastructure. First the roads, rivers, run ways and rails (the 4 r's) and then the development. That's how successful cities grow according to the famous Simcity model. Don't forget a decent amount of law enforcement though, or you're game over at a pretty early stage in the game.

Maybe in 30 years from now both Pattaya and Rayong will be similar or even bigger in size than smelly and sinking Bangkok. With the Chinese around, this might just be the master plan. Look how many mega cities they created the last decades.

[Yme]

Bangkok-Pattaya-Rayong would be the most profitable of any of the projected rail projects envisaged that haven't been allocated yet.

The monies not in passengers. It's in freight to and from Rayong and Laem Chabang and connecting to the north-south line which will connect with the east-west corridor.

If the passenger service operates on the same principles as 7-Eleven ticket prices I predict will rival the current bus service with probably the addition of a first class car at a higher price.

[Orac]

Well, the only way for Pattaya and Rayong to become Chinese megalopolises in the future is by having a proper infrastructure. First the roads, rivers, run ways and rails (the 4 r's) and then the development. That's how successful cities grow according to the famous Simcity model. Don't forget a decent amount of law enforcement though, or you're game over at a pretty early stage in the game.

Maybe in 30 years from now both Pattaya and Rayong will be similar or even bigger in size than smelly and sinking Bangkok. With the Chinese around, this might just be the master plan. Look how many mega cities they created the last decades.

By the time they finish building the railway, the Chinese will have a built a naval base at Sattahip, air base at U-Tapao and, in a desperate bid to create 'happiness' the casino that has been talked about for years might get the nod.

[harrry]

There are always tilt trains that can handlefaster speed round those curves.

[wpcoe]

I wonder where the Pattaya train station will be located? I assume the project is targeting Pattaya-bound tourists, but the current rail line is slightly awkward for convenient access to the tourist areas of Pattaya/Jomtien. Will the baht buses see another chance for high fares from the railway station into town? If metered taxis would, in fact, use meters (they haven't since their introduction) it would be better, but...

[ExPratt]

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

There are always tilt trains that can handlefaster speed round those curves.

Loads of possibilities but tilting trains , High speed rai. would be like the old Monkey with a machine gun saying. Look around you and see if you can see anything built or maintained to any quality. Its not laziness its just a Thai or Third world mentality , no one does anything until something is completely unusable of extremely dangerous and then its usually bodged up for a quick fix.Not being racist or anti Thai , my missus and kids are like it , something breaks or doesn't work they just walk past it.

Now it seems BTS seems to run well , not that i use it everyday , but that is because it is a "Closed" environment and can be controlled relatively easily. It will be far harder to do that with national rail projects. IMO Thailand would be better off leaving the High Tech stuff alone

Edited April 24, 2015 by ExPratt

[BSJ]

Well, the only way for Pattaya and Rayong to become Chinese megalopolises in the future is by having a proper infrastructure. First the roads, rivers, run ways and rails (the 4 r's) and then the development. That's how successful cities grow according to the famous Simcity model. Don't forget a decent amount of law enforcement though, or you're game over at a pretty early stage in the game.

Maybe in 30 years from now both Pattaya and Rayong will be similar or even bigger in size than smelly and sinking Bangkok. With the Chinese around, this might just be the master plan. Look how many mega cities they created the last decades.

Ordos, China!