Thailand on track to open largest rail station in Southeast Asia - Thailand News



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Thailand on track to open largest rail station in Southeast Asia

By Jonathan Fairfield

 

Picture: Thailand PRD

 

Thailand is on schedule to open the largest rail station in Southeast Asia next year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said. 

 

The Bang Sue Central Station will be fully functional by 2021, with all external construction having already been completed and only interior decoration still to be installed.

 

The four story Bang Sue Central Station, which will replace the Hua Lamphong Station to become Thailand's national rail hub, spans some 1,280 acres and comprises of 12 platforms and 24 tracks, which will be able to accommodate between 26 and 40 trains at the same time. In terms of passenger numbers, the station has a capacity to handle 600,000 commuters per day - ten times more than Hua Lamphong Station.

 

Designed to be environmentally friendly, the station will have at least 30% green spaces and according to Voravut Mala, former Acting Governor of the State Railway of Thailand, it will be "pollution free since it will serve only electric trains."

 

Picture: Thailand PRD

 

The station will be used for intercity, underground and commuter trains, as well as for the new high speed train line that will link Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, and U-Tapao international airports and which is central to the government's flagship Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project that is expected to bring huge investment and massive infrastructure improvements the Eastern Seaboard. 

 

The high speed airport rail line will also be hugely beneficial for tourists in Thailand, enabling travel from the capital to east of the country with far greater ease than is possible today. 

 

Tipped for completion in 2023, passengers using the high speed train will be able to travel from Bangkok to U-Tapao in Rayong in just under one hour. 

 

The high speed train line will also connect Bangkok with Nong Khai, where passengers will be able to travel from the capital to Thailand's northeast border with Laos in just three hours compared to the 11 hours by train and 8 hours by road the journey takes currently.

 

The opening of the Bang Sue Central Station will also be a big boost for people living in Bangkok both in terms of generating a new stream of jobs and income for the local economy, as well as helping to ease the capital's infamous traffic congestion.