Construction of Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima HSR Project Starts

By Mohd Haikal Mohd Isa BANGKOK, Dec 22 (Bernama) – After months of delays and rounds of hard negotiations, Thailand and China have begun construction of the 252 km Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima High Speed Rail (HSR) project, which will bring the dream of a Pan Asia railway venture closer to reality. The Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima line is the first of a two-phase 606 km railway project which will eventually link Bangkok and Nong Khai, located near the border with Laos. Land clearing for an initial 3.5 km of the high speed rail line began yesterday following an official ceremony to start off the project and attended by Thailand’s Prime Minister, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and senior officials from both governments. China sent its Vice-chairman of National Development and Reform Commission, Wang Xiao Tao to the ceremony. "Transnational links such as these will be crucial to our development as a nation. This is consistent with the aim of making Thailand the main logistics hub for ASEAN in the future," he was quoted as saying by the local media Friday. Prayut, who travelled to Nakhon Ratchasima Thursday after about four hours of driving from Bangkok, said the railway project served as a testament to Thailand's long-standing economic, social and cultural relationship with China. The construction of the Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima HSR project will cost Baht 179 billion (RM22.6 billion) and is expected to be operational in 20121 with the travelling time between the two provinces halved to about 90 minutes from between five to six hours. About 182 km of the entire route, which will have six stations, using elevated railways. The second phase of the railway project to construct 354 km rail line linking Nakhon Ratchasima and Nong Khai is still in the planning stages, with details on cost and the completion date yet to be finalised between Thailand and China. Besides the HSR project between Thailand and China, the South East Asian country has also engaged in a discussion with Japan over the proposal to build a "bullet train" rail line modeled after the Shinkansen to link Bangkok and Chiang Mai to the northern part of the country. The Japanese government recently completed a study on the railway project and handed the report to Thailand for consideration. The estimated construction cost of the 670 km "bullet train" line between Bangkok and Chiang Mai would be about Baht 420 billion (RM53 billion), with 2025 as the operational date of the rail service. Thailand’s Transport Minister Arkom Termpittayapaisith said the proposal for the first phase of the Bangkok-Chiang Mai "bullet train" project connecting Bangkok and Phitsanulok will be submitted to the Cabinet in February for approval. The government has estimated construction of the 380 km rail line between Bangkok and Phitsanulok to cost about Baht 280 billion (about RM35 billion). -- BERNAMA