PM hails new trains - service from Bangkok to Chiang Mai slashed by three hours

[ratcatcher]

5 minutes ago, Kru Baa said:

Shaved three hours of the trip by ignoring all safety measures and driving like a maniac

Vans..............maybe. Trains....controlled by a rail traffic controller and signals. Only travel at posted track speeds or slower.

They may be old trains, but they do have conscientious operators. Accidents always caused by idiots trying to pit their vehicle against far greater tonnage.

[cornishcarlos]

11 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

Vans..............maybe. Trains....controlled by a rail traffic controller and signals. Only travel at posted track speeds or slower.

They may be old trains, but they do have conscientious operators. Accidents always caused by idiots trying to pit their vehicle against far greater tonnage.

 

Conscientious operators !!!! 

Thanks for that, made my day:)

[worgeordie]

They say it will knock 3 hours off travel time from BKK - CNX, BUT has any

of the new trains made that journey yet?,did not say so in story,so are they

just hoping it will.

regards worgeordie

[Maybole]

The fastest train that I can find takes 2 hours from Bangkok to Chiangmai. Reducing this by 3 hours still leaves 9 hours

The slowest UK equivalent, London to Edinburgh, takes a maximum of  just under 6 hours

[scorecard]

I'm hoping the undergear is fully up to date design and technology to make it a smooth ride. For me that's one of the attractions of very modern rail transport - the Japanese  shinkanzen fast trains have none of the old clickety clack and continuous jerking - just a very smooth ride.  

[recom273]

Are the Chines trains as good as their buses ? The yellow ones in Bangkok looked great for a year and it wasn't long before fittings started breaking off.

 

 

Edited August 29, 2016 by recom273

[ratcatcher]

1 hour ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

Conscientious operators !!!! 

Thanks for that, made my day:)

I am pleased to have been able to make your day just a bit better. Perhaps you can clue me in on why you possibly feel they are not conscientious given the management and equipment they must work with every day..  Give it a try.

[ratcatcher]

10 minutes ago, scorecard said:

I'm hoping the undergear is fully up to date design and technology to make it a smooth ride. For me that's one of the attractions of very modern rail transport - the Japanese  shinkanzen fast trains have none of the old clickety clack and continuous jerking - just a very smooth ride.  

Much of Thailand's track work has been replaced with continuous weld rail, thus partly eliminating the "clickety-clack", which only occurs when passing over switches and crossovers. 

[cornishcarlos]

13 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

I am pleased to have been able to make your day just a bit better. Perhaps you can clue me in on why you possibly feel they are not conscientious given the management and equipment they must work with every day..  Give it a try.

 

Ok, I'll have a stab at it..... It's Thailand ? The land of no responsibility !!

[ExpatOilWorker]

5 hours ago, yankee99 said:

funny all the trains i took in China were made in Japan or by a Japanese manufacturer. 

 

Nope, this one was Made in China:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/25/chinese-rail-crash-cover-up-claims

 

[dcnx]

My girlfriend is Chinese.  When I told her that Thailand just bought a bunch of new trains from China,  she said, "We just got new ones in some cities, did they buy our old ones? "

 

Anyone know if these are truly NEW cars or if they are repourpsed ones? 

[ratcatcher]

5 minutes ago, dcnx said:

My girlfriend is Chinese.  When I told her that Thailand just bought a bunch of new trains from China,  she said, "We just got new ones in some cities, did they buy our old ones? "

 

Anyone know if these are truly NEW cars or if they are repourpsed ones? 

http://english.cri.cn/12394/2016/08/29/2021s938744.htm

you be the judge.

Chinese trains run on standard gauge track, Thai trains on SRT mainlines run on metre gauge. So must be new stock.

Edited August 29, 2016 by ratcatcher

[Denim]

Disappointing. He could so easily have lauded the new trains but he chose to hail them instead.

 

Sometimes the English language for all its richness comes up short in Thailand. As a sort of challenge can tv posters come up with any other words to convey the PMs enthusiasm other than hail and laud ? I'll kick of with 'praises ' to get the ball rolling away from the much flogged words praises and lauds.

[ratcatcher]

3 minutes ago, Denim said:

Disappointing. He could so easily have lauded the new trains but he chose to hail them instead.

 

Sometimes the English language for all its richness comes up short in Thailand. As a sort of challenge can tv posters come up with any other words to convey the PMs enthusiasm other than hail and laud ? I'll kick of with 'praises ' to get the ball rolling away from the much flogged words praises and lauds.

Premier Prayuth publicly panegyrizes profusely over new Chinese trains.

[Denim]

2 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

Premier Prayuth publicly panegyrizes profusely over new Chinese trains.

 

If only that scared him as much as me democracy would soon be restored.

[JayBeeee]

7 hours ago, rhodie said:

I suspect that means it will now run on time. Normally runs 3 hours late when I have used it.

 

If that's likely I'd expect the reporter to grab the opportunity to hype up the headline to "service from Bangkok to Chiang Mai to arrive six hours earlier'.

[JayBeeee]

7 hours ago, bark said:

So maybe they should put wheels on the trains and drive on your new Highway !

You mean these trains don't have wheels?

Damn! I knew there'd be a catch!  

 

[JayBeeee]

7 hours ago, arithai12 said:

Very good, sounds like a move in the right direction.

Now, if they have a little money left, they could invest in better uniforms...

 

Thunderbirds are go!

[JayBeeee]

I think my theory that most western men come to Thailand for sex and superiority is well proven in TVF.

[Redline]

11 hours ago, colinneil said:

Fancy new trains, same old worn out tracks.

Recipe for disaster.

The track replaced recently was cheap Chinese steel that warped causing derailments.  So, they probably replaced the tracks with new cheap Chinese steel, and then put Chinese cars on top.  I hope there is a warranty.

[ThaiByNight]

Any mention on the time it will take to travel from CM to BK now? 

[dcnx]

6 hours ago, ratcatcher said:

http://english.cri.cn/12394/2016/08/29/2021s938744.htm

you be the judge.

Chinese trains run on standard gauge track, Thai trains on SRT mainlines run on metre gauge. So must be new stock.

 

That's good to know.  Thanks for linking to that,  she was convinced they were used trains. 

[Chris Lawrence]

A big boy always feels better with a new train set.

[cumgranosalum]

18 hours ago, scorecard said:

Actually a very long section of the track mid Thailand to CM was totally relaid with all new materials about 18 months ago.

So there has been no upgrade of the track? You are sure about that?

[cumgranosalum]

2 hours ago, Chris Lawrence said:

A big boy always feels better with a new train set.

 

Wasn't it was said of Mussolini "at least he made the trains run on time"?

[johnnybgood]

Good news for Thailand.

The General will make the trains run on time..........

[trainman34014]

New trains, continuously welded rail and new concrete sleepers with adequate amounts of good ballast will improve the service times greatly but the alignment of the single, uncambered line through the mountains will restrict speeds to well below 120kph for long parts of the journey.    However; at least there are signs of improvement which is encouraging.

 

 

[bark]

17 hours ago, sahibji said:

sir there is a month of testing and the tracks will be all checked up before the commencement of the commercial service.

Not sure how long you have lived in Thailand. So you may not know this.

Two years ago the Minister who was in charge of the State Railway Noticed that a big painting in the lobby of the

Railway building had cracks in the paint and was in need of repair.  He said this painting was the reason why there were so many trains derailing and crashing. He order the painting to be fixed.

After the painting was restored and painted again. He announced in a Press Conference that he had fixed the problem and there would be no more train crashes. And to prove his point he rode on the first train from Bangkok to the North of Thailand.  

Guess what happened ? This train derailed ! You can Google it.

So one month or one year of testing ?

As I said; I hope it is safe and has no problems.

[Moti24]

"PM hails new trains - service from Bangkok to Chiang Mai slashed by three hours"...

 

 Obviously brake failure at Phitsanulok!

[thaibeachlovers]

On 29 สิงหาคม 2559 at 1:13 PM, scorecard said:

Actually a very long section of the track mid Thailand to CM was totally relaid with all new materials about 18 months ago.

True. Some people aren't paying attention.

The entire trip is much smoother now. Where it will not succeed in getting there faster is having to wait, as they do now, for opposing trains to pass on the single track system. Also, if there is a slower train in front they can't go faster than that.

The current day trains are a disgrace, so I hope they are going to replace them.

Edited August 30, 2016 by thaibeachlovers