Phuket transport of the future - pictures and details revealed of province's "Tramway" project

[webfact]

Phuket transport of the future - pictures and details revealed of province's "Tramway" project

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

PHUKET: -- The first electric tram in the Southern region is set to be built in Phuket starting next year.

 

Pictures of the "Tramway" have been announced along with ambitious plans for the 24 station line from Tha Nun to Chalong (five way intersection) via the airport.

 

An upbeat story from Thai Rath said that the government had earmarked Phuket as a key "center of tourism" with a booming economy claiming that 15 million tourists visit the province every year.

 

Building on the first phase of the Tramway will begin next year - this is the section from the airport (station number 4) to the end of the line at Chalong.

 

It is expected to take three years to complete at a cost of 23 billion baht.

 

The train will be powered by overhead electricity. Speeds outside the city limits will be 80 to 100 kilometers an hour, said Thai Rath, while speeds within the city will be limited to 20-40 km/hour.

 

Trams will be capable of carrying 200 passengers.

 

Tickets will cost 18 baht plus 2.5 baht per kilometer travelled.

 

Communications ministry spokesman Chaiyawat Thongkhamkhoon said that the project was in the final stages of consideration and was one of many nationwide designed to improve the country's transport infrastructure.

 

However, it will be the first of its kind in the region, he said.

 

Source: Thai Rath

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-05-25

[Old Croc]

The purple people eater!

Waiting with bated breath for it to get started. Much needed to help with the booming economy and 15 million tourists coming to the Province every year.

 

Edited May 25, 2017 by Old Croc

[Pomthai]

Yay...

woo woo train.

At least they figured out how much tickets will be.

[LivinginKata]

56 minutes ago, Pomthai said:

Yay...

woo woo train.

At least they figured out how much tickets will be.

 

"Tickets will cost 18 baht plus 2.5 baht per kilometer travelled."

 

I wonder how they figure out the kilos travelled.  Surely it will a fixed price  station on/station off. I supoose hitech ticket machines will sort it out. Given about 50 km from airport to Chalong that does not seem inexpensive.  Much the same as a minbus. 

[Bob12345]

1 hour ago, LivinginKata said:

Given about 50 km from airport to Chalong that does not seem inexpensive.  Much the same as a minbus. 

Even if it was double the price of the minibus, I would still prefer it.

[masuk]

2 hours ago, LivinginKata said:

 

"Tickets will cost 18 baht plus 2.5 baht per kilometer travelled."

 

I wonder how they figure out the kilos travelled.  Surely it will a fixed price  station on/station off. I supoose hitech ticket machines will sort it out. Given about 50 km from airport to Chalong that does not seem inexpensive.  Much the same as a minbus. 

I hope the track gauge is going to be more than shown on the mock-up.  The normal track gauge is around 1 metre 80 (5ft or so) and the ride is smooth and fast.  Thai cities certainly need a good public transport system.  Chiang Mai for instance is chocng up by 3.30 every day now, as there are no buses, trains, trams.   Just dozens and dozens of Song Taews, belching diesel smoke, and 1 driver, 1 car.

[madmitch]

The traffic situation during the construction phase is a major concern to me. It's bad already, chaotic at certain bottlenecks and roadworks and, like today at Chalong Circle, sometimes at an absolute standstill. 

 

PS I'm sure the finished article will look just like the picture!!!

[peterpaintpot]

1 hour ago, masuk said:

I hope the track gauge is going to be more than shown on the mock-up.  The normal track gauge is around 1 metre 80 (5ft or so) and the ride is smooth and fast. 

 

Thai Railways have always run on 1 metre gauge (approx. 3.25 feet) the international standard gauge for railways is 1.435 metres (4ft 8.5 inches)  Stephenson chose this gauge for his first railway line as it was the gauge of a private mine railway he had been working on. Brunel of course started with a broad gauge of 2.14 metres which resulted in the GWR having the fastest trains of the day plus extra passenger capacity in the carriages.

[pattayadgw]

It all looks so pretty... so organized..... NEVER!!

[happyas]

I presume that the necessary 8-10 metre strip that is required is all ready to be used.

A long while since i lived on Phuket, but i cant think of any multi lanes roads as depicted in pics with a median strip anywhere near the width shown.

Edited May 25, 2017 by happyas

[docshock13]

6 hours ago, Old Croc said:

The purple people eater!

Waiting with bated breath for it to get started. Much needed to help with the booming economy and 15 million tourists coming to the Province every year.

 

Purple people eater, indeed. I hope they intend to put guard rails up to dissuade potential jaywalkers and keep out those motorbikes that like to cut across medians instead of heading to the next junction and making a u-turn. 

 

[Flustered]

51 minutes ago, peterpaintpot said:

 

Thai Railways have always run on 1 metre gauge (approx. 3.25 feet) the international standard gauge for railways is 1.435 metres (4ft 8.5 inches)  Stephenson chose this gauge for his first railway line as it was the gauge of a private mine railway he had been working on. Brunel of course started with a broad gauge of 2.14 metres which resulted in the GWR having the fastest trains of the day plus extra passenger capacity in the carriages.

And the reason for the private mine rail width was that it was the standard width of a cart. The roads had become rutted over time and every one used this width when building carts.

 

On another note.....This should have happened after the Tsunami. Golden opportunity lost at a time when money was pouring into Phuket.

[Bulldozer Dawn]

Fantastic news.  And it is going to be all finished by 2020.  I will have to mark that date in my diary so that I can be the first to ride on it.

 

And I love the photo mockup from the road that runs in front of Vichira.  Currently that road only has two lanes.  Not sure where the other four in the photo are going to materialize from.

 

I still can't believe it, in just three short years there will be a electric tram running the full length of Phuket and out to the airport as well.

 

No doubt they will use Thai electricity that will not be phased by the flooded roads in wet season.

 

And of course those carriages float.

 

Oh...and why doesn't the mockup show a huge crack across the windscreen like the one that the taxi drivers put in the windscreen of the airport bus...

Edited May 25, 2017 by Bulldozer Dawn

[AllThaiedUp]

Would be interesting to see a route map showing locations of the 24 stations.

Edited May 25, 2017 by AllThaiedUp

[Ruffian Dick]

See that, Chiang Mai?

[Old Croc]

17 hours ago, LivinginKata said:

 

"Tickets will cost 18 baht plus 2.5 baht per kilometer travelled."

 

I wonder how they figure out the kilos travelled.  Surely it will a fixed price  station on/station off. I supoose hitech ticket machines will sort it out. Given about 50 km from airport to Chalong that does not seem inexpensive.  Much the same as a minbus. 

The price per kilo has to be just a general guide. Tickets will be issued to a station at a set price.

Looking at it from a different point of view, the 50km trip you mentioned, on the train/tram/light rail, would cost about 140 or 150 baht, very cheap compared to a taxi and much more convenient than a van.

[steelepulse]

One key phrase in all of this fanfare which must have cost quite a bit to make the renderings and feasibility studies.

 

>>>>>>>>>the project was in the final stages of consideration 

[chub]

Actually, very few details of the light rail line have been published. Experience world-wide however shows that in almost all such systems costs are under-estimated  and ridership overestimated, by huge margins.

Most rail passengers are formerly bus passengers, so conventional wisdom is that you only consider investing in light rail when the corridor already has a very high bus frequency. The Phuket LRT corridor, except for Thalang, Phuket Town and Chalong, has mostly low-density ribbon development along the highway – businesses which have located there to provide access by private vehicles. There are virtually no buses so all future LRT passengers must transfer from private and informal modes.  This makes forecasting of demand little better than a guess, and the temptation for the proponents of the system to make unrealistic forecasts of demand is very strong. No estimates of demand, ridership, revenue and subsidy have been published.  

Also, no details of the LRT alignment, stations and depots have been published.  The LRT presents a dilemma: where LRT passes through narrow streets in Phuket Town, there is not enough road width to provide a segregated 2-way track: LRT must operate in mixed traffic and it will suffer delays at junctions even with signal pre-emption.  Incursions by motor vehicles on the track, including pedestrians crossing the road will cause conflicts.LRT will need to operate at less than 20km/h in these areas.

No doubt, substantial demand from the airport is assumed in the passenger forecast. But LRT will be slow - average speed probably no more than 30km/h including stops, negotiating congested city streets and junction delays.  It will take almost two hours from the airport to the terminus at Chalong.  No details have been published of how passengers will continue their journey from Chalong. Failure to provide a rapid and seamless interchange to another mode at acceptable cost will obviously be a major deterrent to use the LRT system at all. Add another 30 minutes for the onward journey to Kata, Karon and Patong.   

Relatively few tourists will use LRT, especially if the interchange at Chalong to the west coast resorts is not comfortable, reliable, cheap and direct to the hotel.  The current airport van service takes tourists direct to their Patong hotels for THB 180, albeit with dangerous driving and a compulsory stop at a tour agency to suffer some ‘hard sell’ tours.  An increasing proportion of tourists arrive on package tours and will be transported to their hotels by bus. Many flights from China arrive after midnight when LRT will not run. ‘Quality’ tourists and families will prefer the ‘limousine’ direct their hotel. Locals all have the option of private transport. It’s hard to foresee much demand from the airport. Just look at the empty Airport Buses to Phuket Town and the almost invisible “Airport Express” bus service.

So the headline of this article ‘details revealed of province’s Tramway project’ is very misleading. Very few details have been revealed of the alignment, road cross-sections, junction layouts and signalling, depots, interchange arrangements at both ends, passenger and revenue forecasts.

It looks very like a classic case of ‘build it and they’ll come.’

[LivinginKata]

3 hours ago, Old Croc said:

The price per kilo has to be just a general guide. Tickets will be issued to a station at a set price.

Looking at it from a different point of view, the 50km trip you mentioned, on the train/tram/light rail, would cost about 140 or 150 baht, very cheap compared to a taxi and much more convenient than a van.

 

Not so sure about that. Van picks you up at airport terminal and drops you off at or near your hotel/home.  Most folks will need a taxi or lift from station to home.

[schlog]

3 hours ago, LivinginKata said:

 

Not so sure about that. Van picks you up at airport terminal and drops you off at or near your hotel/home.  Most folks will need a taxi or lift from station to home.

Correct. Came back yesterday with 35kg luggage like always. I can't imagine a scenario where i would prefer LRT against a car on way to/from airport.

[Old Croc]

Presumably the airport station would be adjacent to the terminal so no problems that end.

I know some are a little peeved that the tram is only going to be on the east side of the hills, some people living in the west coast tourist towns probably can't envisage an advantage at this stage. I would still think getting a lift to the nearest station by friend or family would be preferable to them driving all the way to the airport or paying for a taxi. My thoughts are that shuttle services (minivans) will quickly start up from several key stations to take passengers from the tram to the west coast.

A genuine question - how many here catch the cheap vans when coming and going to the airport? Or, do you pay for a taxi?  Do the vans really pick up/drop off at your front door for that cheap price?  I've also read many stories about passengers being shanghaied to travel agencies on the way and pressured to change hotels, etc. It would never be my preferred mode of travel.

 

All mute points anyway, I don't really think it's going to get started as advertised.

 

 

 

 

[simon43]

Presumably the airport station would be adjacent to the terminal so no problems that end.

 

LoL, TiT, so don't assume anything :)

[wakeupplease]

It will not take long b4 the locals on bikes think they can use it so big accidents just around the corner wait and see