Rail transport in Thailand

The railway network of Thailand is currently managed and operated by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT).

History

Interest in rail transport in Thailand can be traced to when King Rama IV was given a gift of a model railway from Queen Victoria. Expand-section|date=June 2008

Network

Thailand has 4,180 kilometers of meter gauge railway tracks not including mass transit lines in Bangkok.

Northern Line

The Northern Line begins alongside the Northeastern Line up until Ban Phachi Junction. Here, it splits from the Northeastern Line and proceeds through Lopburi, Nakhon Sawan, Phichit, Phitsanulok, Denchai junction, Lampang, Lamphun, before finally reaching Chiang Mai 751 kilometers away from Bangkok. There is also a branch off the mainline from Ban Dara junction to Sawankhalok in Sukhothai Province.

Northeastern Line

The Northeastern Line begins on the same route as the Northern Line, splitting at Ban Phachi Junction towards Nakhon Ratchasima. Then at Thanon Chira Junction, the line splits with one route passing Khon Kaen and Udon Thani before terminating at Nong Khai 624 kilometers from Bangkok. The other route passes through Buriram, Surin, Si Sa Ket to reach Ubon Ratchathani, 575 kilometers from Bangkok.

There is also another branch route originating from Kaeng Khoi Junction in Saraburi Province passing through Lamnarai in Lopburi Province, Chaturat in Chaiyaphum Province, before joining the mainline heading towards Nong Khai at Bua Yai Junction in Nakhon Ratchasima Province.

outhern Line

The Southern Line begins in Bangkok and heads west towards Nakhon Pathom before splitting into 3 different routes. One route heads west towards Kanchanaburi Province (km 210) while another heads north towards Suphan Buri (km 157). The Southern Line itself continues southbound through Ratchaburi, Phetchaburi, Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, Chumphon, to Surat Thani 678 kilometers away. From Surat Thani, there is a westerly branch towards Khiri Ratnikhom while the main line continues south to Thung Song Junction in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province where another branch reaches Kantang in Trang Province. The main line from Nakhon Sri Thammarat continues through Phatthalung before reaching Hatyai Junction in Songkhla Province. From here, the line branches to connect with the Malaysian railway at Padang Besar and Sungai Golok passing through Yala Province in the process.

Eastern Line

The Eastern Line begins at Bangkok before heading through Chacheongsao, Prachinburi to terminate at Aranyaprathet station in Sa Kaew Province 255 kilometers later. There is an unused rail link to Cambodia from Aranyaprathet. A branch line also connects Khlong 19 to the Northeastern Line at Kaeng Khoi Junction. At Chacheongsao station, there is another branch to Sattahip from which there is also another branch to Sriracha Junction 139 kilometers from Bangkok. From Sriracha Junction, there is yet another branch towards Laem Chabang deep sea port and Mapthaphut.

Other lines

The Maeklong Railway is a line operated by the State Railway of Thailand. It is independent of the national rail network and is split into two sections. The line begins at Wong Wien Yai in Bangkok before terminating at Mahachai where a ferry is used by passengers to cross the Tha Chin river. The line starts again across the river towards Mae Klong.

Rail transport in Bangkok

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, King Rama V eagerly built a tram network for Bangkok by employing foreign engineers and technicians, especially Danish engineers. In fact, Bangkok had electric trams before Copenhagen. However, due to a lack of interest and maintenance the tram network was completely scrapped in 1968.

Bangkok's first modern mass transit system, the Bangkok Skytrain, was opened on 5 December 1999. It consists of 23 stations and 2 lines with a combined route length of 23 kilometers and there are 35 trains (3-car-train configuration) for whole fleet wide. While on 3 July 2004, the Bangkok Metro, a 21 kilometers, 18 stations underground mass transit rail line was opened and there are 19 trains (3-car-train configuration) for whole fleet wide, servicing to the public. In 2007, a record of passenger in BTS system increases to nearly 400,000 peoples a day and the number of passenger for BMCL system starts to increase with 190,000 peoples per day only.

Operators

All intercity rail transportation is managed by the State Railway of Thailand, a government agency responsible for rail infrastructure investment as well as freight and passenger services.

In Bangkok, the Skytrain is operated by Bangkok Mass Transit System Public Company Limited (BTSC) under a concession granted by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) but the investment for the structure and system were fully supported by BTSC.The underground system is operated by Bangkok Metro Company Limited (BMCL), while whole project investments were shared by Mass Rapid Transit Authorities (MRTA) and BMCL, which all civil structures was provided by government sector and the system was provided by private sector (BMCL). The deal of contract between BMCL and MRTA are under the concession agreement for 25 years operation.

Future

The Suvarnabhumi Airport Link is a high speed train route currently being constructed by the State Railway of Thailand linking Suvarnabhumi Airport and Phaya Thai BTS Station as well as Makkasan station, which is also set to serve as the City Air Terminal. It is expected to be operational in mid- to late-2008.

Mass transit routes in Bangkok is also set to be expanded. Excluding the already under construction extensions to the Skytrain, the Bangkok Metropolitan Government is planning a northern as well as western expansion of the Skytrain. The Central Government, through the State Railway of Thailand and Mass Rapid Transit Authority are also planning to build several new metro routes, three of which will begin construction by year end.

The Thai Government also has double tracking projects including a double tracking project currently in the works between Laem Chabang deep sea port and the Lad Krabang ICD. Also, in line with the Government's policy of reducing overall logistics costs in Thailand, there are plans to completely double track all the main lines in the country as well as upgrade track quality. The Government is also mulling a restructuring of the State Railway of Thailand and granting operating concessions to private freight operators. An international rail link is also being constructed towards Vientiane in Laos via Nong Khai and the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge.

There is also a plan to construct new railway routes to Chiang Rai in the North via Denchai Junction, to Phuket via Surat Thani, and to connect the Mae Klong railway to the main lines.

ee also

*State Railway of Thailand
*Bangkok Skytrain
*Bangkok Subway
*Transport in Thailand
*Thailand
*Economy of Thailand