Thailand is in the process of expanding and duplicating railway lines across the country. While this is a much-needed improvement to the railway network, the choice of railway gauge will create further problems and cost more in the future.
Thailand’s railways operate on a metre-gauge. There are several gauges used around the world, but most modern railways have settled on using standard-gauge (1,435 mm). This is the gauge used by the Laos-China Railway, and through to China, Central Asia, and Europe.
Like most of Southeast Asia’s railways, Thailand’s railways run a single track, so trains use the same track in both directions Trains have to wait at passing loops to let opposing trains pass. If one train is late, it causes delays throughout the rest of the day.
[Train waiting at passing loop for a train to pass.]
Thailand is now converting these lines to double tracks, so trains can run in both directions without being held up at passing loops. The problem is that there are lines that would have made sense to convert to the standard gauge. Instead, a network is being built that will have mixed gauges.
This problem of a mixed-gauge network was brought up by the president of the Engineering Institute of Thailand in 2015. The recommendation was to stick to a specific width or expect “sky-high costs”.
The State Railways of Thailand (SRT) have been hemorrhaging baht for decades, and in November 2021 it was reported that “its balance sheet shows liabilities of about 160 billion baht, when its actual liability stands at 600 billion baht”. That’s nearly 18 billion USD! The SRT plan to offset this debt by with 600b baht in land projects over 30 years.
Early in 2022, I visited some of the cities where the double-tracking of the metre-gauge is taking place. These cities are also planning for a standard-gauge high-speed railway. After visiting these sites I’m not surprised that the SRT is losing so much money, and what they are doing now is going to make their debt crisis even worse.
The railways of Thailand are divided into regional groups, so this article will break down the problems within each region.
Thailand Railway Map
[Map via aseanrailways.org.]
The current lines referred to in this article are shown on this map.
Northeastern Line
Northeastern Line: consists of the branches to Nong Khai and Ubon Ratchathani. The absurdity of Thailand’s mixed-gauge mess is best illustrated in the Nong Khai corridor.
[Train to Nong Khai.]
The current Bangkok – Nong Khai line is a single track metre-gauge line with trains using diesel-powered engines. There is also a cross-border shuttle from Nong Khai to Thanaleng in Laos (about 20 km from Vientiane).
[Nong Khai to Thanaleng shuttle train.]
There are two projects that are being built simultaneously in the Bangkok – Nong Khai corridor.
The first project is the double-tracking of the current metre-gauge line.
[Preparing metre-gauge duplication, Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima.]
The second project is the high-speed standard-gauge railway that will eventually connect to the Laos-China railway in Vientiane.
This means that Thailand is building two separate railway systems for the same route.
The double-tracking of the metre-gauge railway can be seen in Khon Kaen City. An elevated railway has been built through the city, with an elevated station replacing the old Khon Kaen Station.
[Elevated double-tracked metre-gauge railway and the old single-track metre-gauge railway in Khon Kaen.]
Khon Kaen Station has four platforms, all of which serve metre-gauge lines.
[Metre-gauge line at Khon Kaen Station.]
There is no provision for a standard gauge railway at the new Khon Kaen station, so the tracks will either have to be ripped up or there will be another station for the high-speed railway. Neither of these options is good.
[Khon Kaen Station.]
The high-speed railway will travel at a speed of up to 250 km/h, while the Laos-China Railway is a semi-high-speed railway with a top passenger speed of 160 km/h. It would have made more sense for Thailand to have just built a semi-high-speed railway to the same specifications as the Laos-China Railway and not have proceeded with the duplication of the metre-gauge railway.
What is even more illogical with this dual-gauge corridor is that Thailand will be running freight on the metre-gauge. Freight will then need to be offloaded at a container port to be put onto a standard-gauge railway for its onward journey through Laos to China and beyond.
The Nong Khai corridor is not the only section where the break of gauge at an international border is going to happen. Thailand has now committed to building a new railway line from Ban Phai (on the Nong Khai line) to Mukdahan and Nakhon Phanom. This line has been planned for years as part of the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC). This line will connect Myanmar to Vietnam by rail, enabling cargo to be shipped inland from either side.
Laos has announced that they will be building their section of the EWEC with a line from Vientiane to Thakhek, and then through Vietnam to the port at Vung Ang (which is majority-owned by Laos). This will be privately built, and the Vietnam section will also be built at the same time.
The Vientiane-Vung Ang Railway will be a continuation of the Laos-China Railway, so it will be a standard-gauge railway. Thakhek in Laos is opposite Nakhon Phanom on the other side of the Mekong River. The Ban Phai to Nakhon Phanom Railway forms half of the Thailand section of the EWEC. It would make sense to build this as a standard-gauge railway, but it is being reported that it will also be metre-gauge. So the vision of a seamless east-west transport corridor across the Greater Mekong Subregion is being hobbled by Thailand’s insistence on sticking to its antiquated metre-gauge system. Once again, an inland port will need to facilitate the offloading of containers between the two systems. The Nakhon Phanom railway is still only at the point of clearing land, so they still have time to change course and build a standard-gauge line.
[Thakhek in Laos, viewed from Nakhon Phanom in Thailand.]
Northern Line
The Northern Line is the line from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. There have been proposals over the years to build a new high-speed railway to Chiang Mai, including a Shinkansen-style railway that was proposed by Japan. So far though, the Chiang Mai high-speed railway remains just a proposal.
[Chiang Mai Station.]
There is also a new line that will be built to Chiang Rai, which would branch from the Chiang Mai line at Den Chai. The Chiang Rai line will be a metre-gauge line like the current system. If the Chiang Mai line is ever upgraded in the future to a high-speed standard-gauge railway, then this line becomes incompatible.
Eastern Line
The Eastern Line is a hot mess of bad planning whose fortunes are tied to the further bad planning of Bangkok’s urban rail transit system (I will get to that point in the Greater Bangkok section).
The Eastern Line goes from Bangkok to Chachoengsao, then to Chonburi Province on the Eastern Gulf Coast and Aranyaprathet on the border with Cambodia.
[Chachoengsao Station.]
The Chonburi branch has a limited passenger service from Bangkok to Ban Phlu Ta Luang via Pattaya. The line extends to Map Ta Phut (home to the largest port in Thailand) for freight services.
[The slow train from Hua Lamphong to Ban Phlu Ta Luang.]
The Ban Phlu Ta Luang service will be replaced by the 3-Airport Rail Link, which will connect Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi Airport to U-Tapao Airport in Rayong (also referred to as Pattaya Airport). This rail link will recycle the current Airport Rail Link from Phaya Thai in Bangkok to Suvarnabhumi Airport. The Airport Rail Link opened in 2010, and it is the only standard-gauge railway in Thailand (not counting urban transit lines in Bangkok). From Suvarnabhumi, the line will be extended to U-Tapao Airport.
The 3-Airport Rail Link will be a standard gauge railway with train speeds of up to 250 km/h. There is also talk of extending this line to Rayong City and Trat (both of which have no railway).
Meanwhile, the current single track that serves Ban Phlu Ta Luang and Map Ta Phut has been double-tracked. This is an important corridor for freight being shipped from the port of Map Ta Phut to Laos via the Northeastern Line.
[Double-tracking of Ban Phlu Ta Luang line.]
Map Ta Phut is effectively a shipping port for Southern China, but with freight being sent to the Laos border on a metre-gauge railway, containers need to be switched to a standard-gauge freight train.
So the Eastern section is also building out a two-gauge system, and neither is the best system for their intended purposes.
For the high-speed line to U-Tapao, does this really need to be a high-speed railway? The current Airport Rail Link is a 160 km/h service (a semi-high-speed railway) and that would have been sufficient for the Pattaya and U-Tapao extension. And of all the places in Thailand that should get a high-speed railway, I would not have put Rayong and Trat on that list (sorry, Rayong and Trat). A semi-fast train on a standard gauge would have sufficed.
For the double-tracking of the metre-gauge railway to Map Ta Phut, it would have been more logical to build a double-tracked standard-gauge railway here, which could then join a double-tracked standard gauge railway in the Northeast, which (most crucially) could be connected to the Laos-China standard-gauge railway.
This could have been done with minimal disruption to the current metre-gauge, and they could still use the metre-gauge until the rolling stock has been completely transitioned to a standard-gauge line.
Southern Line
The Southern Line constitutes lines south and west of Bangkok. The line from Nakhon Pathom to Chumphon is being duplicated, and the second phase will extend further south from Chumphon to Surat Thani-Hat Yai-Songkhla.
Once again this metre-gauge double-tracking project is going ahead without any consideration for future lines.
There have been reasonably serious proposals over the years to build a high-speed railway from Bangkok to Hua Hin. This project was cancelled but has been revived again with a new feasibility study underway.
There have also been passing mentions of a Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur high-speed railway, which would be a continuation of the Bangkok – Hua Hin line further south. Going back even further, a Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur HSR would make up what was the vision of the Singapore-Kunming Rail Link (SKRL).
Progress of the double-track program on the Southern Line can be seen in Hua Hin. A new station is being built in Hua Hin with an elevated track through the city centre (like in Khon Kaen).
[New Hua Hin Station next to the old single-track metre-gauge railway.]
While an elevated railway through the city is a good thing, this is the same problem that is happening in the Northeast. If Thailand decides to build a high-speed railway to the south, where will they put it?
[Single-track metre-gauge railway and the elevated double-track metre-gauge railway in Hua Hin.]
As you can see here in Hua Hin, the new double-track metre-gauge railway is being built alongside the old single-track metre-gauge line. If they do go ahead and built a high-speed railway they will need to build a new elevated track. They could have built this new double-tracked line as a standard-gauge semi-high-speed railway, while still having use of the old metre-gauge railway while transitioning to the standard-gauge railway.
Greater Bangkok: Commuter Railways (Red Lines) And SRT Lines
In Thailand, all railways lead to Bangkok. It is the main hub of Thailand, and Bang Sue Grand Station was built with the vision of being the grand hub of mainland Southeast Asia railways.
[Bang Sue Grand Station.]
Given that an enormous amount of money was spent to build Bang Sue, a better plan should have been made to untangle the railways in and around Bangkok.
[Tracks for metre-gauge and standard-gauge lines at Bang Sue Grand Station.]
The mixed-gauge mess continues with the Bangkok commuter railway project collectively known as the SRT Red Lines. The two new lines (SRT Light Red Line and SRT Dark Red Line) are metre-gauge electric railways.
[Platforms for SRT Red Lines at Bang Sue Grand Station.]
Most of the red lines follow the path of established SRT long-distance lines, and they will eventually replace these lines.
[SRT Red Lines as of 2022.]
The Light Red Line will be extended south from Bang Sue Station, and then east to Phaya Thai and Hua Mak. This line will follow the same route as the current SRT Eastern Line, underneath the current elevated Airport Rail Link.
[Airport Rail Link and SRT Eastern Line at Phaya Thai.]
The Airport Rail Link will eventually become the 3-Airport Rail Link. Instead of building two separate lines on the one route (Light Red Line and 3-Airport Rail Link), this should have been consolidated into one line.
[Airport Rail Link Route (The Light Red Line will also run from Phaya Thai to Hua Mak).]
You can see the problem that the SRT has made for itself when looking west from Phaya Thai BTS Station. The current Airport Rail Link ends here, and there is a bit of line that sticks out in preparation for a future extension. Underneath that is the current SRT Eastern Line which will be replaced by the Light Red Line extension. In the future, there will be an elevated railway for the standard-gauge HSR line from Phaya Thai to Bang Sue, and an elevated railway for the metre-gauge Light Red Line/SRT East, also from Phaya Thai to Bang Sue. No wonder the SRT is 600 billion baht in the hole when decisions like this have been made.
[SRT Eastern Line at Phaya Thai.]
In the future, there will be a high-speed line to U-Tapao on this elevated section (with a possible extension to Tayong and Trat), while the Eastern Line and Light Red Line will be on a meter gauge underneath.
Makkasan Station is another place to see the lack of foresight in consolidating the commuter and long-distance railways in Bangkok. Makkasan was built as the central Bangkok terminal for the Airport Rail Link, but now the express railway and airport checking facilities have closed. Read my article on how to fix Makkasan Station.
[Makkasan Station.]
Makkasan has four platforms that were designed to serve express and stopping-all-station trains to Suvarnabhumi. Underneath the station is the single track of the Eastern Line (the line that goes to Chonburi and the Cambodia border). The double-track Light Red Line will be built along here.
[Makkasan Station and the SRT Eastern Line.]
The commuter line should have been built as a standard-gauge line, with the goal of converting the Eastern Line to standard gauge as well. Then all of the lines could have used the same elevated railway that was built for the airport link.
[Hua Mak SRT Station, with the Hua Mak Airport Rail Link in the distance.]
The SRT Dark Red Line will also be problematic. The Dark Red Line currently runs from Bang Sue to Rangsit, and it will be extended further north to Thammasat University. That will be about halfway to Ayutthaya, which will be served by both the metre-gauge line and the future high-speed railway to Laos. A future high-speed line to Chiang Mai would also be on this route. The Dark Red Line should have been a standard-gauge line, and it could have been consolidated into the network that will serve Bangkok to the Northeast.
The Dark Red Line will be extended south in the future, though this is the most problematic corridor to untangle. The line will be extended south from Bang Sue to Hua Lamphong, replacing the tracks of the current line.
[Line from Bang Sue to Hua Hamphong.]
From Hua Lamphong it is proposed to be extended to Maha Chai, replacing the Wongwian Yai-Maha Chai line. A further proposal extends the line on the path of the Maeklong Railway (famous for the train that goes through a market).
[Maeklong Railway.]
Maeklong is close enough to the Southern Line for it to have been considered a future shortcut from Bangkok to the south, saving about 43 kilometres from the current route.
[Greater Bangkok rail map.]
This is a metre-gauge line though, so such a shortcut would not work for a proposed southern high-speed railway (a line that would want a shortcut).
What Thailand should have done, and what can still be done
Thailand has now embarked on a path of running a railway network with two gauges, committing itself to the expense that goes with it. In 2017, the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP) unveiled a 20-year master rail plan for rail development:
“The plan covers double-track rail development, stretching 2,777km; metre-gauge rail routes with a total distance of 2,352 km; standard-gauge rail routes for high-speed trains, stretching 2,457km; the establishment of container yards; and the use of electric trains for rail transport.”
It’s worth noting that the Laos-China Railway officially began construction in December 2016, so Thailand knew that this was going to be a standard-gauge semi-high-speed railway. At that point, Thailand could have just committed to building the same system. Instead, they went ahead with the double-tracking of the metre-gauge and the standard-gauge high-speed railway.
The Laos-China Railway was completed in December 2021, and Thailand was still mired in issues with the construction of the high-speed train that will connect to it. In fact, in the time that China built that railway, Thailand had still not even come to a decision on the railway bridge across the Mekong River. The government was looking for funding for a feasibility and design study on the railway bridge…in 2022.
The SKRL has been a plan for decades, and China committed to the project in 2007. There surely must have been a consensus between the nations of the Kunming-Singapore Railway (China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore) to build a united line of the same specifications, and then each country would work towards that goal. China has gone ahead and built the China and Laos section on a standard gauge with a semi high-speed railway (160 km/h for passenger trains). A standard-gauge semi-high-speed train would have also been a good option for Thailand. It is cheaper to build than a full high-speed railway, and they could have done this instead of committing to the metre-gauge duplication project.
The double-tracking of the metre-gauge system is so far advanced now that it is too late to consolidate the network to a single gauge. The only change that could feasibly be made now is to reconsider building the Ban Phai-Nakhon Phanom and Chiang Rai lines on a standard gauge before work begins.
Interesting and comprehensive article.
I wanted to point out that expanding an existing ground-level metre gauge line to standard gauge should be relatively straight forward. Laying some more gravel, pre-placing sleepers and having rails ready could all be done while the existing lines remain in operation. The actual switchover could all be done in a day or two.
But attempting to engineer the same switchover on an elevated track on top of a concrete structure a dozen metres in the air would be an incredibly expensive horror show.
Also worth noting that one of the biggest benefit to having elevated rail is the way that it frees up level road crossings. But of course it there is still a busy ground level rail line underneath then the benefits to road traffic are largely negated.
Thanks James for bring this all together.
This is a story of staggering incompetence and the complete lack of planing and strategic skills and massive waste of public money.
I never got to grips with the lack of thought that went into some of the stations in Bangkok regarding connecting between lines or the SRT system at many places where it could have been made far easier and the fact that no one ever gave thought to the idea of one common ticketing system in Bangkok allowing people to buy one ticket for the journey.
One can only hope that passengers see more benefit than they did with the “upgrading” of the lines between Rangsitt and Lop Buri/Saraburi 20 or so years ago
I don’t think that it is wasting public money not to connect with China. It is better not to connect with China. And, I don’t think improving the railway in Thailand (double tracking or building a high-speed railway) would increase Thai passengers. Thai people still travel by car because it reflects their wealth status. It’s a norm in this country.
So why would government has a mega project and invest so much money? First, this mega project is officially launched during the junta. These people just want to show that they can do a lot of things that the government from the election could not. At least, they can bypass many obstacles. Second, this mega project gives the authority a lot of money, which means it is more accessible to corruption. Do you really believe that junta would do anything for the good of the people in the country? So, it is not a lack of thought as you mentioned. It is perfectly planned for the benefit of some groups of people.
The thought about one common ticket started in 2004. But, yeah, it never finished. The main issue is each line is owned and operated by different companies (similar to NYC before the MTA). The green line is owned by Bangkok and operated by BTS. On the other hand, the blue line is owned by SRT and operated by MRTA. Right now, Bangkok wants to transfer the ownership to SRT or the Ministry of Transport. But, the problem is that the former governor of Bangkok signed the contract with BTS (not the Korean boy group tho). Consequently, Bangkok owes BTS 1.2 billion US dollars. I don’t think this debt will be resolved in 2023, and the one common ticket will not exist soon.
Excellent analysis, thanks James.
I visited parts of the SRT network in April 2022. I am still astonished about the two large and only very little used stations in Bangkok: Makkasan and of course the new Bang Sue Grand Station.
Since Makkasan failed as the city terminal of the Air Rail Link (ARL), the station building is way to big.
From my point of you SRET could prolong the ARL straight westwards, building an interconnection station where it crosses the north-south rails to Hua Lamphong and then crossing the river connecting MRT blue line and then using the existing line from Thonburi to Taling Chan. This would connect the Westbank of Chao Phraja in a very efficient and fast way with the central and eastern parts of the city. Moreover it would boost the usage of the MRT blue line in the west as well. A common ticketing system including BTS, MRT, ARL and SRET is a must to make this successful. Moreover the headway of trains on the ARL should be 5 min or less.
At the end the interconnection stations as Makkasan, Phya Thai, the two new suggested stations with SRT north-south and MRT in the west, will become well used stations with many opportunities for shops and other businesses. Makkasan has the space already in place.
Bang Sue Grand station: Huge station with very little traffic, the majority of space is empty and unused. Staff is waiting for passengers. The two SRT regional lines (dark red and light red) are running every 20/ 30 min mostly empty. Coming from the north or north-west heading towards the business district at Siam center, passengers are required to change to MRT and then again to BTS. In total 2 times change of trains plus 3 tickets to buy. I would not use this service.
Possible solution as mentioned before: A common ticketing system plus the prolongation of the red lines down to Hua Lamphong with interconnection to ARL where the meet.
Since the building of Japanese HST line to Chiang Mai has been canceled, there is less hope that this station will be ever crowded as planned.
It’s not wrong that Thailand choose to stay meter gauge for conventional railway lines. And its not bad planning at all, it it the wise choice actually.
The reasons are:
– Most of Indo-China use meter gauge railway for conventional rail network. (Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia). To use standard gauge mean we cannot connect to neighbor countries. Thailand also running freight trains between Malaysia regularly and Malaysia also choosing to remains on Meter Gauge on new upgraded-electrified mainline so Thailand follows.
– Thailand has almost 4000km long railways, convert whole network while also double its track is such a high cost. (Build another new track, demolish old track and build another one to be double track = more than 2x work to be done). Also more 1000km are planned for new route, this way we can save budget and build new route faster.
– New locomotive to use for new gauge is needed, or old need to be modified, including all rail cars = Huge Cost to convert.
– If upgrade existing railway to standard gauge, High Speed Train will likely need to limit to 200km/h on those mixed use section. So max speed will not much differ from upgraded meter gauge lines. Upgraded meter gauge allow trains travel up to 145km/h (160km/h is possible with tilting).
So Thailand will build 1.435m High Speed Track separately for High Speed Train.
Airport Rail Link is now incorporated into High Speed Route, Commuter services in the future will limit to mainly use for Airport Transfer while Red Lines takes most of the Commuter Rail duty.
Also there are study to build standard gauge along existing railway from Nong Kai to Laem Chabang Port in the future to allow freight trains runs directly from/to China and Laos using private funding or PPP.
The issue is that Thailand does not have any coherent strategy. Laos only has a standard gauge line (if you forget the bit across the river)
By proper coordination with its neighbors like Malaysia then a standard gauge makes sense
The point about any upgrading is that most of the trains on the route never even run much above 110Klm per hour
One needs to be careful about using the term High Speed trains as although there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines built to handle speeds above 250 km/h (155 mph) and upgraded lines in excess of 200 km/h (124 mph) are widely considered to be high-speed.
the new link with Cambodia is hardly an encouraging sign of ambition and thought out strategy with virtually no trains (non covid times) scheduled to run between Bangkok and Phnom Pehn and no seamless immigration and customs. The Cambodians having spent a fortune upgrading the line so it can operate at 20-30klms per hour apparently are now wanting to upgrade it to a high speed line (any guesses how much extra it will cost not having simply gone for the higher speed in the first place.
Sure the Thais will want shiny new trains if they upgrade to standard gauge but there is masses of surplus rolling stock that is in excellent condition available in the West (thoroughly refurbished no one would know they were not new) and an infinite improvement on most of the current rolling stock
I think the main reason for using and converting to standard gauge instead of meter gauge is because of China. Well, Thailand is not part of China.
It’s all about the politics in Thailand. The former government (before the coup) planned (and promised) to build a full high-speed railway within 2020. The plan was dropped by the court. (Yes, in Thailand, the court has more power and can overturn the decision). The new plan has a shorter length of the high-speed railway with more money. What would happen if the junta chooses semi high-speed railway for the convenience of China? Yes, it is cheaper. But would people be OK with the downgrade following the coup? It gonna be a controversy that the junta is the Chinese puppy.
Also, Thailand gains no benefit from connecting with the China-Laos railway smoothly. In terms of tourism, we rarely made profits from Chinese tourists compared to Western people. No offense, but the truth is Chinese tour always prefer service from a Chinese company. For freights, the products from China are always cheaper. And, we cannot compete for the price with them, especially the agriculture products. So, why not let them do a little extra work–cost them extra money, and their price would go up a little bit? Don’t forget we rarely sell products in China!!! Fun Fact, China used to import durian from Thailand. Now, China has developed durian so it can grow in colder weather. In fact, China is the only one that gains benefits from the Kunming-Singapore project. Laos is currently overwhelmed by the debt (China invested so much infrastructure in the country).
Overall, the standard gauge and meter gauge is just all about politics (local and international). China offers to invest money and build a high-speed railway for Thailand in the northeast. This shows how much China wants this project to be completed. But luckily, that offer is rejected. There is nothing that comes for free. The relationship in this zone, China-Southeast Asia, is not as friendly as the EU or US-Canada.
By the way, this article is so great. It shows how much you study about Thailand’s transportation. I really appreciate your effort. I wish my country has a much better railway system.
The gauge conflict is certainly an issue for Thailand and mirrors what is happening in Vientiane, capital of Laos. Not content with a Vientiane (North) station on the standard gauge route from China with 3 platforms, they are building a metre gauge extension from the current Thanaleng terminus into Vientiane (Thai) station closer to the city centre also with 3 platforms! Such duplication is wasteful and all services should really be concentrated at one station for ease of future interconnections. However the standard gauge line does circle round the north east of Vientiane, past EMU and freight depots to what looks like a loco depot. This is just 2 km from the propose standard gauge Mekong bridge. There is also a sharply curved link to the metre gauge Dry Port container terminal at Thanaleng where container transhipment can occur. Works alongside the west of Nong Khai border station on the Thai side of the Mekong might be advance works for the new standard gauge ‘border’ station.
It is so wasteful when you consider that the standard gauge will eventually cross a via new bridge into Thailand. Unfortunately, I have no insight into the thought process at the SRT.
James does anyone?
I remember the double tracking to Lop Buri and Saraburi and stations that have more platforms than passengers, some have footbridges that no one uses, at Ayutthaya the trains rarely used the southbound platform and trains were no faster than before and on that section perhaps a little improvement on punctuality if I am feeling generous
Malaysia is upgrading its metre gauge network to 160 kmph. So Thailand’s duplication of metre gauge track on the southern line connecting to Malaysia makes eminent sense as it will allow the same speed as standard gauge for lower cost.
The sole reason Thailand (and the whole region) ever adopting the standard gauge is China. Simple as that. Before, the whole ASEAN were already connected to each other by the meter gauge system. Laos now have the also new standard gauge because of China and so Thailand are building one only to connect.
The new standard gauge in Thailand by itself doesn’t make sense. Thai passengers can’t afford the ticket prices while cargo transportation is also more expensive on business end. Not to mention the absurdly high cost of construction and operation compared to the already familiar meter gauge system. That’s excluding buying new locomotives, too.
In fact, it would take quite some impressive trade success with China to make this new standard gauge worth the colossol price tag.
So, the options were either 1. build the new standard gauge system while leaving the current one being old single-tracked, or 2. Build the new one and also upgrade the existing one to double-tracked.
I think, at best, one could argue that it might be better to build the new system first then upgrade the old one later. But it should happen nonetheless. The new and more expensive standard gauge system will run at loss for many many years as it only meant for luxury passengers and goods, and, well China. It simply can’t compete with buses, lowcost airlines, and vans. Even the then faster double-tracked old system will be more preferred.
One could only wish Thailand adopted the standard gauge from the begining.
One-ticket system for different lines in Bangkok mass transit isn’t there yet because concessions were granted to different companies and they apparently came up with their own ticketing system. They’re trying to fix it, but I guess it will take some time.
Honestly, seeing China’s economic growth is in its recession and likely will continue for many years as the country is already past its golden generation and is losing its status as the world’s factory; I fear for Thailand that the whole standard gauge train system will become a big big debt.
the whole of ASEAN is not connected how would you travel by train from Thailand to Vietnam (prior to the new Laos line) . Even where there are physical links in most instances there is no concept of through International trains such as in Europe
Only one small leg of the 4 legs planned of the proposed Thai high speed railway (2018 plan) connects to China via Laos.
10m+ have used the new line in total with about 8.7M on the China section and over 1.8 m passengers have used the Laos section of the new railway with fares for the domestic Laos section between $6 and $60 and yes it is debatable if the Thais could run the service at a profit but I would rather suspect there would be significant uptake especially if there is a decent service and certainly not restricted to the luxury market.
I think where we all agree is that building High speed standard gauge lines whilst doubling and modernizing the meter gauge is a somewhat odd decision indeed why would you keep the meter gauge at all where it runs parallel to the new gauge
Nice analysis but with a few mistakes. High speed rail BKK – KL – Singapore is completely pointless. That’s 1470 km to KL and 1870 km to Singapore. Average speed are usually around 200-250 km/h, so KL can be reached in 6-7.5 hours, Singapore in 7.5 – 9 hours. No one is going to use that.
When travel time exceeds 3 hours people switch to planes because it’s faster and on such distances cheaper.
So yes, to do BKK – Vientiane in 3 hours High speed rail was needed.
Similar with high speed to Pattaya – a lot of passengers on that route so high speed was needed.
Forget about southern HSR.
an interesting fact is that Thailand did at one point have dual gauge since The Northern Line was originally built as 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge , but in September 1919 it was decided to standardize it to the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) meter gauge.
Thanks, I didn’t know that. The Hanoi–Đồng Đăng railway still has a dual gauge (standard-gauge used for the train to Nanning when it is running), which I think is the only dual gauge left in SE Asia
It would be even a good idea to refurbish the ARL to meter gauge and use the same rolling stock as red line. These Hitachi trains have a superb riding quality on the meter gauge, i was really impressed. Also it is then quite easy to extend the electric services on the existing network by electrifying it batch by batch.
If all passenger trains could run 120km/h on the existing tracks (as of today only the few Daewoo DMU are capable of) it would already be a big improvement.
Generally speaking a new generation of rolling stock is required, all the new tracks and also the new chinese locomotives are classified for 120km/h but all the 3rd class carriages are only certified for 90km/h…
I myself can not see any good reason for making the ARL meter gauge enormous cost and disruption for little if any gain
It could lift the deadlock on the eastern line, which is crawling through the city on a single track right now. So the SRT trains could go up on the elevated tracks at Phaya Thai and down after Lat Krabang…
or they could coordinate the new 3 airport line to the east with the Eastern lines . taking out the ARL for years to convert and then mixing the eastern trains with the airport trains would be a recipe for disaster
I am sorry I just don’t buy it