PM Prayut reveals high speed rail link to be funded by Thai government alone

[TPI]

I doubt Thailand will go the high tech very fast train route (>200 km/hr). It will just be a fast train (up to 150 km/hr) which is achievable with quite modest technology. It just needs a straight, well constructed double track, proper management of rail traffic and tilt trains.

What!!!!

[soalbundy]

I picked my wife up from the station last night, she was coming back to Surin from BKK, the train was two hours late, i asked the guy selling tickets in a friendly manner how this was possible, he shrugged his shoulders and laughed,''I don't know, it just happens''

Only two hours late. Relax, the high speed trains will only be half as late as the normal trains.

or not arrive at all because 'it just happens'

[khun custard]

Ahhh... takes me back to my childhood, the thrill of my 1 hour allocation of black and white TV after school to watch my favorite show. Casey Jones

Do you remember the lyrics of the theme tune???? .... OK... just change a few names...

Casey Jones

Steamin' and a-rollin'

Casey Jones

You never have to guess

When you hear the tootin' of the whistle

It's Casey at the throttle of the Cannonball Express

[Thian]

I do not really see why everyone is so negative, this can only be good for the country.

I agree and if there's no funds than just print money, baht goes down and more tourists come to use the trains.

[Thian]

Stick the car purchase tax up from 300 to 400% ??

My friend bought a big car because of the coming taxrise.

Now he 's angry because the taxrise is all fake. The car still costs the same.

[freedom4life]

This will end up bankrupting the country. How the hell are they gonna pay for this?

Why should anyone but Thailand fund their own projects and infrastructure?

[jesimps]

I look forward to using the service once

and then see what ticket prices settle at,

joining the mile long club may be a quick affair,

You're a braver man than I am Gungadin.

[jesimps]

I do not really see why everyone is so negative, this can only be good for the country.

Have you not been reading of the very slow speed trains here falling off the tracks on a regular basis?

High speed rail link my aris.

[farcanell]

This will end up bankrupting the country. How the hell are they gonna pay for this?

Why should anyone but Thailand fund their own projects and infrastructure?

Why would anyone go to a bank to fund their own house building project?

[tancred]

Hope it is managed byChinese or Japenese people.

[tomacht8]

He said the line would be the first of numerous future railways connecting the regions of the country and allowing existing train routes to be devoted fully to the transport of goods.

From Bangkok to -Nakhonratchasima with a 250 km/h high-speed train?
What goods are there to be transported at high speed?
For passenger transport; what will cost a ticket then for the farmer?
The benefit is unclear here.
The most expensive technology for people who tend not to have much money?

[LostDemocracy]

Queensland Rail's tilt train is currently the fastest train in Australia and the fastest 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge train in the world, setting a record at 210 km/h, with standard operating speeds 160 km/h - is this new rail line going to be some kind of record-breaking technological marvel, or are they going to build it standard gauge?

That standard operating speed isn't that fast. 100mph for a train these days isn't much.

[buythisdashcam]

hahaha, suddenly I am so sure that we will never have a fats train here...

Anyway who cares to go to Korat ! People want to go to Pattaya in 30 mns, anything else is useless and will never be profitable.

[darren84310]

250km per hour?..... I wonder if this will be the preferred choice to jumping from a condo balcony in years to come.....

[thhMan]

They could use the funds to pay the Police a bit more, so they can actually make an appearance... Just them doing their jobs, may help congestion, open up streets that are bogged down with illegal parking, vendors etc...

We may not even need a train that goes faster than the nation can process information in their noggins

[uthaithanirules]

I do not really see why everyone is so negative, this can only be good for the country.

Errr, pointed at China

Whats it going to do to Isaan, Laos? And it will bring more Chinese tourists in

I understand the value of the tourist dollar

But not neccessarily a good thing overall

I think its a mistake to put too much value on the Chinese Tourist dollar, short term gains for a myriad of long term problems

Whats going to happen?, they get all get in their campervans, drive down through laos and isaan, spend stuff all money on the way, a little mega city car park goes up in Nakhonratchasima when they park and do their trip to Bangkok for the weekend.

There would be far bettter return on investment ideas for chasing the tourist dollar

[farcanell]

Woow, really great. People don't have water, mostly horrible roads outside of BKK, but Thailand needs a Highspeed train {quote}

By Jove... I think you've nailed it.

Some have queried what freight it will carry.... Water

The roads are horrible.... Grab the hi speed train

[uthaithanirules]

hahaha, suddenly I am so sure that we will never have a fats train here...

Anyway who cares to go to Korat ! People want to go to Pattaya in 30 mns, anything else is useless and will never be profitable.

Yes, high speed rail link from the Airport to soi 6

That would be great, everyone could get back to the airport within two hours and tell the wife plane was delayed, a bit of turbulence half way, we had to divert

[bangon04]

" the Thai government will be completing the Bangkok-Nakhonratchasima historic high-speed train route on its own with China only contributing to its construction and setting up the route’s technology."

This appears to be a contradiction - if the Chinese are constructing the railway and setting up the technology (signalling etc??) then what exactly are the Thais doing? Financing it?

[jamesbrock]

Germany runs standard gauge tracks at 1.435m and its trains can max out at 320 kph

Thailand is also running on 1.435 m track, and there are claims that while normally operating at 250 km, they will also be attempting speeds of up to 300 km were conditions permit ( newly constructed lines)

Due to the fact that existing rail line will be used, were possible, some sections will be unable to cope with faster speeds, for example,... Around existing sharper curves.

Cheers

Thailand only runs standard gauge (1,435 mm) for 80.55 km - BTS Skytrain, Bangkok Metro, and Suvarnabhumi Airport Link; the rest of the 4,346 km of railway in Thailand runs on metre-gauge (1,000 mm).

Queensland Rail's tilt train is currently the fastest train in Australia and the fastest 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge train in the world, setting a record at 210 km/h, with standard operating speeds 160 km/h - is this new rail line going to be some kind of record-breaking technological marvel, or are they going to build it standard gauge?

That standard operating speed isn't that fast. 100mph for a train these days isn't much.

No, you missed my point entirely - I wasn't boasting about how amazing that speed is, I was pointing out that the record speed the fastest narrow gauge (1,067 mm) train in the world is 40 km/h less than the PM claims his new rail will go. As per my reply to farcanell, all of Thailand's rail lines (apart from the three BKK rapid transit lines) run on metre-gauge (1,000 mm) - this is why I asked which gauge Thailand will use to build this new rail line.

As others have already answered, according to the plans released in 2010, they did then plan to use standard gauge.

[tukadadoll]

How hilarious, I hope it operated as well as the high speed train from the Airport to Bangkok?

[elgenon]

Amazing. Californians are screaming about paying for a high speed rail from LA to SF. AS our infrastructure crumbles.

[6NS]

How about take this money to improve existing rail lines, add/improve rail lines to container ports, establish container handling yards at the larger Issan cities and the border crossings to Laos and Cambodia. Then ensure the transport rates are low enough that a majority of the current heavy truck traffic is reallocated to rail transport. This would greatly reduce the amount of non-agricultural heavy traffic from the roads reducing bus and passenger vehicle travel times while improving road safety. It would also reduce the damage to road surfaces that is currently being done by overloaded trucks.

In all honesty how many Thais headed home to Issan for songkran will be able to afford a high speed rail ticket and how many wealthy Thais go to Korat?

This could not have been said any clearer. Best bang for their buck.

[phoenixdoglover]

" the Thai government will be completing the Bangkok-Nakhonratchasima historic high-speed train route on its own with China only contributing to its construction and setting up the route’s technology."

This appears to be a contradiction - if the Chinese are constructing the railway and setting up the technology (signalling etc??) then what exactly are the Thais doing? Financing it?

I would say the Chinese got a nice low risk deal.

I would be looking at the possibility of kickbacks on this one. No bidding. No mention of budget. No outside financing.

The word boondoggle comes to mind.

[natway09]

It sounded like a good idea at the time.

Mr Prime Minister, please hear my plea,

Thailand can & does build some wonderful projects,, but none of them are serviced or maintained properly.

This is a recipe for disaster.

Why not arrange for the SRT to spend a fraction of this money & rejuvenate properly the existing framework.

[deesquared]

I wish them good luck and hopefully the Lao will look into the increasing number of attacks on Chinese interests in central Laos - just yesterday a Kunming-Vientiane bus was attacked near Kasi on the new Kasi-Muang Nan road to Luang Prabang by a mob of 20 and given the number of recent attacks, I can only imagine the security concerns along the Lao portion of the railway if this violence is not brought under control. While it won't affect the Thai sector as long as the trains are on the Thai side, I'm becoming very concerned about the increasing regularity of this violence on the Lao side.

It's to be between Bangkok and Nakhonratchasima.

[cumgranosalum]

Wasn't it Mussolini who got labelled with the ignominious epithet "Well, at least he made the trains run on time"?

[LawrenceChee]

This will never happen in time or if we are that lucky start up ....

There was an earlier thread on this and I commented on that probably like a few months / year ago

Nothing has happen and nothing will happen. Thais don't have the ridership to sustain a high speed railway like Japan and China / Europe has

There is no critical mass for such a mode of transportation and the folks won't pay these fares either

There is an average of 8 million ridership in China or Japan daily ...I cannot foresee these numbers for Thailand

Plus I am not sure where the money is coming from ...are they bartering rice for parts ? China won't want it as they have lots of surplus of their own

[farcanell]

Germany runs standard gauge tracks at 1.435m and its trains can max out at 320 kph

Thailand is also running on 1.435 m track, and there are claims that while normally operating at 250 km, they will also be attempting speeds of up to 300 km were conditions permit ( newly constructed lines)

Due to the fact that existing rail line will be used, were possible, some sections will be unable to cope with faster speeds, for example,... Around existing sharper curves.

Cheers

Thailand only runs standard gauge (1,435 mm) for 80.55 km - BTS Skytrain, Bangkok Metro, and Suvarnabhumi Airport Link; the rest of the 4,346 km of railway in Thailand runs on metre-gauge (1,000 mm).

Queensland Rail's tilt train is currently the fastest train in Australia and the fastest 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge train in the world, setting a record at 210 km/h, with standard operating speeds 160 km/h - is this new rail line going to be some kind of record-breaking technological marvel, or are they going to build it standard gauge?

That standard operating speed isn't that fast. 100mph for a train these days isn't much.

No, you missed my point entirely - I wasn't boasting about how amazing that speed is, I was pointing out that the record speed the fastest narrow gauge (1,067 mm) train in the world is 40 km/h less than the PM claims his new rail will go. As per my reply to farcanell, all of Thailand's rail lines (apart from the three BKK rapid transit lines) run on metre-gauge (1,000 mm) - this is why I asked which gauge Thailand will use to build this new rail line.

As others have already answered, according to the plans released in 2010, they did then plan to use standard gauge.

Ah.... Thanks James... I see the errors of my way... Vodka

No! Wait!.... That can't be right, vodka is always good.... Although things do seem clearer in the morning, but I had always put that down to the dirty rotten sun.

So, let me correct myself.... The high speed train with be running on 1.435 m (standard) track, but to save costs, it will use, where ever possible, the existing railways reserve, with shortcuts to miss unintended destinations, and path changes to increase alignment curvature, or straighten minor bends, I would imagine.

Most of thailands rail system is single track, which is probably why it's always running late, as trains would have to bypass at set points, so dropping a fast train onto the existing line would be pointless, as it would be held up by both overtaking and bypassing slower trains, so regardless of gauge, a second line,dedicated to the fast train is still needed, which, as of 2015 anyway, was still planned to be standard gauge.

The faster trains in Europe, also use standard gauge, so as money and train systems improve, Thailand can then simply buy newer, faster trains (engine sections as the cars themselves would probably be able to stay the same) and in that way, increase the maximum speeds, were the track allows, or so I would (again) imagine

Ultimately, it is planned that dual 1.435 track will connect the whole country, but the date on that was 2032.... So... Don't hold your breath.

Edited March 25, 2016 by farcanell

[cumgranosalum]

Queensland Rail's tilt train is currently the fastest train in Australia and the fastest 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge train in the world, setting a record at 210 km/h, with standard operating speeds 160 km/h - is this new rail line going to be some kind of record-breaking technological marvel, or are they going to build it standard gauge?

Trains in Germany travel at 300 kph. I don't know what gauge they use - standard European whatever that is.

From Google: The Intercity-Express (ICE). The fastest breed of DB Bahn trains in Germany and Europe. The Intercity-Express (ICE) is the fastest and most comfortable way to travel on the DB Bahn network, reaching speeds of up to 300 km/h, and new standards of excellence.

Which means, of course, that Thailand's high-speed train service will still be slower and many years behind Europe. And by the time it's built the difference will possibly be even greater. Where the world leads, Thailand follows.

Well, so does the TGV in France.

I suspect that these extra 50km/h cost a lot, really. Especially the tracks and all the power feeding infrastructure. So IMO it makes sense for a developing country to target more affordable technology. 250km/h isn't bad, really, for a country the size of Thailand.

Whatever... even at those speeds, it won't be cheap and like a former poster I'm not sure I'll see any of these trains in my lifetime.

Germany runs standard gauge tracks at 1.435m and its trains can max out at 320 kph

Thailand is also running on 1.435 m track, and there are claims that while normally operating at 250 km, they will also be attempting speeds of up to 300 km were conditions permit ( newly constructed lines)

Due to the fact that existing rail line will be used, were possible, some sections will be unable to cope with faster speeds, for example,... Around existing sharper curves.

Cheers

Let's hope somebody tells them!