State Railway mulls four high-speed routes

Govt wants to keep management control

The State Railway of Thailand will study the viability of four high-speed regional train routes over the next six months, said Deputy Transport Minister Chatt Kuldiloke.

He ordered the state enterprise to study routes running from Bangkok to Chiang Mai in the North, to Rayong in the East, to Khon Kaen in the Northeast and to Hua Hin in the South.
The study will cost about 50 million baht per route on average. He expects the contracts to build the routes to be signed four years from now.
The Transport Ministry will switch from double tracks one metre apart for high speed trains proposed by the previous government, to wider double tracks of 1.435 metres on the proposed routes.
This would bring them into line with the standard adopted by neighbouring countries, and cut maintenance costs.
Pol Lt Gen Chatt said the change was suggested by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who said it made sense to align our tracks with those in neighbouring countries.
Local train services will continue to use existing tracks, but purchases of locomotives and carriages will be kept to a minimum.
The government would invest in high-speed railways to control fares and cut costs through soft loans and barter contracts.
The deputy minister said the government considered the high-speed train to be basic infrastructure, over which the state must have full management control. The government must be free to manage the system and determine the fare.
Pol Lt Gen Chatt said the northeastern high-speed railway project might begin first.
A feasibility study on the route had been conducted but it covered only the Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima section. The scope of the study should be extended all the way to Khon Kaen, he said.
Khon Kaen can be a freight transit point for commodity crops such as rice, sugar and sugarcane.
SRT governor Yuthana Thapcharoen said if the government planned to invest in high-speed railways itself, all projects could start as soon as the feasibility studies are complete.