Friday, 25 May 2012

High Speed Railway: Bangkok to Chiang Mai


Thailand’s Transport Minister has announced Thailand will finally look seriously into a high speed railway between Bangkok and Chiang Mai. He expressed confidence the high-speed link will be ready by 2018.

While most tourists, and Thai people alike would love to cut the 12 to 14 hour journey to under 3 hours, most know it will be longer than 6 years away.


However, Transport Minister Jarupong Ruangsuwan has announced that Thailand and China have agreed to conduct a feasibility study on the country’s first high-speed rail project. With Chinese experts surveying the planned route between Bangkok and Chiang Mai high speed rail construction, which spans over 745 km, it has been suggested that the railway should be constructed to support a speed of approx 250 km/hour and focusing on passengers primarily.

The feasibility study of the project will take a year to finalize before construction can commence. The Bangkok-Chiang Mai high speed rail is expected to be ready in service by 2018.

The source of fund remains to be determined based on public interest whether it should solely come from the Thai government's budget or a government-to-government cooperation.

Under a total budget of 983.47 billion baht, the Transport Ministry has plans to construct 5 high-speed rail routes, including Bangkok-Chiang Mai, Bangkok-Nong Khai, Bangkok-Ubon Ratchathani, Bangkok-Rayong, and Bangkok-Padang Besar.

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