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High-speed rail to link Pattaya with airports

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From Pattaya Mail

 

1258-n8-Railway-1.jpg

An artist’s rendering of what the new rail line might look like. The State Railway of Thailand next month will request 28 billion baht to construct a high-speed train line linking Pattaya with the region’s three main airports.

 

PATTAYA – The State Railway of Thailand next month will request 28 billion baht to construct a high-speed train line linking Pattaya with the region’s three main airports.

 

Chonburi Deputy Gov. Phawat Lertmukhda chaired an Aug. 30 public hearing at the Asia Hotel about the project connecting U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya Airport with Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang.

 

SRT development director Julthep Jithasombat said the agency will set forth its formal plan at a meeting next month and make the budget request under the government’s Eastern Economic Corridor project.

 

If approved, construction would begin in 2018 with the line opening in 2022.

 

The planned route calls for a standard-gauge set of tracks to run from Don Mueang to the terminus of the existing Airport Rail Link in Makkhasan, Bangkok, to Suvarnabhumi and through Chachoengsao and Chonburi to Pattaya, U-Tapao and Rayong.

 

Continues with map

http://www.pattayamail.com/news/srt-request-funds-pattaya-bangkok-high-speed-rail-line-oct-185487

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We've been hearing about high speed rail links for years.  So far, all talk and no action.  For me, it's another one of those "I'll believe it when I see it" kinds of things. 

 

Dalewood said, "I bet the train station will be a pain in the ass to get to."  If the rail link is actually built that may very well happen.  But even so, it might be worth the trouble.  I drive to and from Bangkok fairly often.  The expressway is unpredictable.  You never know when there will be traffic jams, except of course during holidays when you can count on them.

 

Just yesterday I drove to Bangkok on the expressway, Rte. 7.  There was a traffic jam going toward Pattaya from Bangkok that was a good 6km long.  If you're going into Bangkok, not long after passing the airport you can almost always expect a 15 to 30 minute traffic jam at a toll station for a lousy 25 baht.

 

I returned to Pattaya today.  No problem at all on the expressway going to Pattaya.  But there was a huge traffic jam going toward Bangkok. 

 

And then, once you're in Bangkok, the traffic is a nightmare.

 

So even if the train station is a pain to get to, I'd rather endure that pain than the traffic jams.  I would take the rail link to Suvarnabhumi and then the train into town from there.

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I wouldn't consider the train. A private taxi for 1.200 baht is fine for me.

when it will become 2000 you may change your mind. It's the same with boys , for 1000 ST all of them are beautiful, when they start asking 1500 or even better 2000 all of the sudden we see all those pimples , warts and undersized bulges.

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From Reuters

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand’s cabinet approved on Tuesday a high-speed railway project expected to cost about 225 billion baht ($7.22 billion), that will link three airports, a government official said.

 

The approval comes at a time when surging tourist arrivals - now equivalent to more than half of the Thai population - have put some strain on Thai infrastructure.

 

The rail link will connect the two airports in the Bangkok area - Don Mueang International and Suvarnabhumi International - with U-Tapao, built during the Vietnam War in the eastern province of Rayong.

The government expects to select winners for the public-private partnership project (PPP) in October and expects it to be in service in 2023, Nathporn Chatusripitak, a spokesman for Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, told reporters.
 

According to a government statement, the cost of the project is about 225 billion baht, slightly higher than 200 billion baht mentioned earlier by officials.

 

“We will wait to see the TOR (terms of reference) of the auction before considering participation because this is a long-term investment,” a spokesperson at CH Karnchang Pcl told Reuters.

 

The firm built a large portion of Bangkok’s metro systems and subsidiary Bangkok Expressway and Metro built and operates expressways and mass transit systems.

 

The high-speed railway is part of the government’s larger transport infrastructure investment action plan worth 2.02 trillion baht, covering rails, roads, airports and seaports.

 

The junta has ramped up infrastructure investment in a bid to boost growth Thailand has lagged regional peers since the army took power in 2014.

 

The finance ministry has forecast economic growth of 4.2 percent this year, after 3.9 percent growth last year, the fastest pace in five years.

 

Infrastructure projects will also help ease pressure from the influx of foreign tourists.

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-economy-railway/thailand-approves-7-2-billion-high-speed-rail-project-to-link-airports-idUSKBN1H319F

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Guest abang1961

expects it to be in service in 2023。。

 

Not wanting to sound condescending, I doubt the project can be completed by 2033. Knowing jolly well that it took more than 10 years for the Thais to finish their MRT project.

 

Not forgetting the massive planning involved in a high speed rail project, I doubt I live to the day to use the rail.

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Guest FASAJIP

Taxis, and bus have nice  days in front of them... Before all this pharaonic projects are reality... A friend of mine is waiting since 20 years in Vientiane the famous railway express between China, Vientiane, and Thaïland !!!

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Guest abang1961

China can have all their plans and money to push things ahead but the problem lies with local authorities.....JOhore Bahru in the southern end of Malaysia had a fright when Chinese investors start to default in their monthly payments...When will the taps run dry?

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China can have all their plans and money to push things ahead but the problem lies with local authorities.....JOhore Bahru in the southern end of Malaysia had a fright when Chinese investors start to default in their monthly payments...When will the taps run dry?

There are a lot of dollars, euros, pounds etc flowing into China to fund all the manufactured goods, so they have money.

 

Thailand can also afford some development, but whether they can simultaneously build about 4 high speed rail lines, a few metro lines & multiple road projects remains to be seen.  I suspect they will show more fiscal responsibility than, for example, Mr Trump.

 

You would think Thailand should also be finding money to pay for flood protection and water supply projects, which perhaps should be an even higher priority.

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