Hi-speed rail plan kicks off

[TotallyOz]

The government plans to launch the bidding for the country's first high-speed train route linking Bangkok with Chiang Mai by this September.

 

The train will take just three hours to reach its destination.

 

......

 

Construction of the first high-speed train line is expected to begin early next year and the first section of it from Bangkok to Phitsanulok should be completed between 2018 and 2019. The last section from Phitsanulok to Chiang Mai would wrap up two years after that, Mr Chula said. He said fares would probably be no more than 2,000 baht per trip.

 

http://bangkokpost.com/news/transport/332505/hi-speed-rail-plan-kicks-off

 

I do hope that Thailand is able to catch up the the USA with regard to high speed trains. That would only take one train.

[Guest fountainhall]

Don't hold your breath! All we have to do is remember -

 

1. The CTX airport luggage scanners fiasco. Have they ever worked, I wonder?

 

2. The army's "vital" Bt. 350 miliion blimp. This was then found to be unable to fly at a high enough altitude and was deemed unsuitable for military operations. Purchased 3 years ago, it was able to fly only recently because it required major repairs at a cost of Bt. 25 million!!! To prevent leaks, it then had to be constantly filled with helium at a cost of Bt. 300,000 per month. Finally, after just a couple of flights, it crashed on its last outing in December 2012 from a height of 15 meters off the ground. It now needs another Bt. 150 million for further repairs! 

 

3. The location of the Futsal Stadium for last year's World Championships so far out of Bangkok that it would have been difficult to get there even if it had opened on time. It didn't open at all - and all the matches had to be transferred to other stadia.

 

4. Suvarnabhumi, described in an article in The Nation as -

 

the mother of all sloppy and corrupt projects

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/01/26/opinion/opinion_30025141.php

 

At least Suvarnabhumi is likely to seem a drop in the bucket compared to all the tea money that will change hands with the high speed railway. Unlike Suvarnabhumi, though, maybe it has a chance of opening less than 40 years after it was planned 

[Guest]

Who would operate this railway?

SRT are unfit to run what operations they have, never mind a slick high speed rail service.

 

Just look at the list of failings on the Bangkok rail link (below) and compare with the relatively slick skytrain service.

 

1 Makkasan rail station is absolutely enormous, but is virtually empty as it is in the wrong place, without good connections.

 

2 The platforms at Phaya Thai are too small and overcrowded.  Any idiot could foresee this station would be the busy one.

 

3 No direct transfer gate to BTS

 

4 Original routes did not include express from airport to Phaya Thai (since added).

 

5 Pointless express service terminating at Makkasan continues to operate.

 

6 Inadequate timetabling and passenger information.   Any remotely professional rail organisation would have prominent display screens so passengers can see which train would be the next to leave and when it leaves.

 

The above analysis isn't difficult.  It just comes from informal benchmarking after trying public transport in many different countries.

 

If SRT can get that much wrong with a high budget commuter train, there could be almost limitless scope to screw up a full high speed service.

[Guest timmberty]

its funny how we accuse the thais of getting almost anything to do with money wrong!!

its not so long ago my great nation the united kingdom won the rights to the olympic games.

the original budget was something like 4 or 5 billion, it then climbed to something like 9 billion.. cant remember the exact figures.

the final cost was actually around 8.6 billion, so the powers that be claimed the games had come in under budget !!! .. its not just 3rd world countries that do it ... put big money in anywhere in the world and you will see coruption take hold.

as for getting everything else wrong i.e. sizes of platforms etc etc .. well that all costs money to put right, you dont think such things were not done on purpose do you ?

[ChristianPFC]

To be fair: BTS and MRT are working fine (although I don't know if there were any problems during construction), I only wonder why Saphan Taksin has only one track and why the MRT extension does not go north to Royal Palace and Khao San road.

 

I recently noticed that the railway line Bangkok - Chiang Mai has only one track (except for stations), so trains can only drive past each other at stations, which might explain the delay of usually 2-3 hours (once there is an irregularity, the train has to wait in a station for a train in opposite direction to pass).

[Guest]

To be fair: BTS and MRT are working fine (although I don't know if there were any problems during construction), I only wonder why Saphan Taksin has only one track and why the MRT extension does not go north to Royal Palace and Khao San road.

I agree on both points.

So the first step should be to relieve SRT of the airport rail link and hand it over to BTS, so that it can benefit from competent management and integrated ticketing.

Then sack the SRT management responsible for setting up and running the airport rail link.

 

The high speed rail line should probably be run by some consortium consisting of a few successful Thai capitalists and some privatised overseas rail companies. SRT know nothing about running the kind of fast & punctual rail service that could actually compete for business with buses and planes. So don't let them screw it up.

 

I also wonder why the Bankok Metro isn't extended into China town and beyond. The traffic there's really slow.