High speed train Bangkok - Korat 500 baht/one hour 17 minutes - "no way will it fail"

[Destiny1990]

Why would i go to Korat?

[Toshiba66]

1 hour ago, sandrabbit said:

I agree, it needs a 2 tier system with slow trains stopping everywhere and a higher speed inter city system with limited stops and a premium fare along the lines of London to Heathrow airport. I'd love to be able to get on a train from Rayong and have the occasional day out in Bangkok etc, I can pay 200 baht each way and be scared witless in a mini bus. This country needs an integrated  rail system which would be beneficial to Thais and tourists.

And I also agree. I think high speed trains are great but Thailand is not ready for them yet.

Medium speed?? Like the Airport Link train that gets up to 160 kl/hr so I am told would be fine and cost way less. I would love to see that line extended to Rayong like was planned also. I hope this is still going to happen.

[Buriramfelang]

They'll have to tunnel under the mountain to be able to do that time. They've been building the road up the mountain for three years and there's a long way to go. 

[Dave67]

1 minute ago, wombat said:

i see work being subbied out to the Japanese

 

 

They may opt for a Japanese system but Japanese construction would see them subbing it out to local companies.. The company that Build the Japanese System is MHI or Mitsubishi heavy industries and they have their own subcontractor which will have no Japanese employees. 

[KhunBENQ]

44 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

lets just hope it is a elevated track all the way or the deal is off.

What I would expect:

Completely fenced off (on low concrete wall) with underpasses or the like outside the urban areas or elevated where major roads cross.

Elevated in the cities/populated areas.

Comparable to highway 7 (Bangkok - Pattaya).

Level crossings are unthinkable.

[masuk]

5 hours ago, mikebell said:

Until it falls off the rails.  It happens once a week with slow trains.

Well, if you've ever travelled by train,  especially on the line north, you will see thousands of wooden railway sleepers piled up near many of the stations.

These are rotten, no doubt full of termites, and after countless derailments, were eventually replaced by concrete sleepers.

It's all a matter of planning ahead, replacing the obvious, someone with initiative actually doing something.

If memory serves me right, a few years ago a Minister was being shown how good the line was, when his train derailed.

Seems the concrete sleepers weren't long in arriving.

I'm sure the new high speed line, along with the proposed contractors, will ensure a good job is done.

[Ace of Pop]

They will have to do a better price than the existing structure.Air Asia is the same price as the Train ..BKK to Ubon Rat.8hrs against 1 hr +..No contest,no logic.?


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[bbbbooboo]

hmmm ...... no way will it fail.... in Thailand ?......... I DOUBT IT

[TEFLKrabi]

5 hours ago, Dave67 said:

I would say for it to "Not fail" they would have to develop Khorat quite a bit to make it a nicer place to live 

Why would that be necessary? It's the gateway to Isaan and is not just a land of poor buffalo riding farmers, as people seem to imagine.

[TEFLKrabi]

3 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

While I agree with you, I do enjoy using the first class sleeper carriages between Hua Hin and BKK. 

 

 

Why spend all this money to please a few farangs and a few Thai weekenders. Build to for the people who build this country up every day #IsaanWorkers

[TEFLKrabi]

38 minutes ago, NoBrainer said:

 

There should be Zero crossings.

 

Any crossing should be by way of Tunnel or Bridge. Anything else is just looking for a disaster to happen.

 

At the moment, Bangkok to Korat in a fast car is only just over one & a half hours, so unless your commuting

every day, (at 1000 Baht per Person round trip, which I find unlikely), then I don't see a lot of use for it, as

if you go from time to time on business, or holidays, then it's nice to have your own car anyway.

 

At the end of the day, what Thailand should be building is just a modern dual track standard gauge railway system 

all around the country, which can easily move people and products from place to place for little money.

 

But there is no prestige in that.

 

If they insist on building a high speed train, why not start out with one between the two airports, and the central business district.

 

That would be a good test bed.

 

 

 

 

Not sure that would be legal, 1.5 hours to Korat. Minimum if driving within the limit would be 2.5 I'd guess.

[natway09]

Not worried that it will fail,,,,,, but will it fail?     (what maintenance ???)

[TEFLKrabi]

21 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

Why would i go to Korat?

Some of the best courses in the country, lots of Khmer history, gateway to Isaan, fabulous food, no beer-bars!

[josephbloggs]

3 hours ago, impulse said:

If terrorism ever comes to Thailand in a big way, people forget that it takes some sophisticated and expensive weaponry to bring down a flying plane.  All it takes to crash a train is a guy with a $50 cutting torch.  Air transport only really needs security at each end.  Tracks are vulnerable along the whole line.

 

That's a really excellent point, best not to go ahead with it.

 

Also best we don't build any more bridges because they are vulnerable to terrorist attack along their entire length.  Just one bomb under any of the support pillars and there you go.

 

Also roads; just a single bomb placed on a road could take out several cars at once.  We should cancel all roads too and just fly everywhere.  It's the only way to be safe in this terrible world of doom that you live in.

[Dave67]

3 minutes ago, TEFLKrabi said:

Why would that be necessary? It's the gateway to Isaan and is not just a land of poor buffalo riding farmers, as people seem to imagine.

Because the Railway will fail if it relies on Tourists and people popping in and out of Bangkok or the other way round. What it needs is a regular flow of daily commuters. For that to happen Korat needs to be a viable place for people who work in Bangkok and surrounding area to live.

[losworld]

I fully expect to see a 500 baht fare than a 200 baht ride or more to the nearest connecting bus station or airport.  Look for it likely to be far out of town so someone on the inside can get the land and resell it. 

[NoBrainer]

4 minutes ago, TEFLKrabi said:

Not sure that would be legal, 1.5 hours to Korat. Minimum if driving within the limit would be 2.5 I'd guess.

Yes but more than half the cars on the road are exceeding the Legal Limit, many of them quite excessively, so there

is a difference between reality, and a fairy tale myth where each and every citizen strictly adheres to every ridiculous

law that was ever dreamt up.

 

There is no utopian society, where everything is regulated, down to how many eggs you have for breakfast, except maybe in some

of the nanny states in Northern Europe.

 

Personally I much prefer the Wild Wild West type of system.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Has anyone noticed here that the suggested 500 baht fare for the high speed train would be about HALF of the amount currently charged by the royal Pattaya-Hua Hin ferry, which requires no tracking investment at all, just a couple older repurposed boats.

 

Interesting economics there....

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

19 minutes ago, Dave67 said:

Because the Railway will fail if it relies on Tourists and people popping in and out of Bangkok or the other way round. What it needs is a regular flow of daily commuters. For that to happen Korat needs to be a viable place for people who work in Bangkok and surrounding area to live.

 

Wasn't there talk at one point on the past of potentially relocating the government and capital to the Korat area and out of BKK, because of the future expected/potential flooding problems?????

 

https://cleantechnica.com/2011/11/25/bangkok-becomes-first-megacity-to-mull-move-to-higher-ground/

 

 

[Xonax]

5 hours ago, tominbkk said:

Well the BTS and the MRT have done alright.  They have to start somewhere.

 

Well the BTS and MRT would not be doing allright, if they had to return the full construction costs.

[Dave67]

Just now, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Wasn't there talk at one point on the past of potentially relocating the government and capital to the Korat area and out of BKK, because of the future expected/potential flooding problems?????

Would certainly improve the fortunes of the Railway if it happened

[CLW]

Modern technology in a country with a 3rd world country work ethics. A high speed train crashed once in Germany where work ethic is very high, i don't think Thailand is ready for this.

That was proven material failure

[TEFLKrabi]

Yes but more than half the cars on the road are exceeding the Legal Limit, many of them quite excessively, so there
is a difference between reality, and a fairy tale myth where each and every citizen strictly adheres to every ridiculous
law that was ever dreamt up.
 
There is no utopian society, where everything is regulated, down to how many eggs you have for breakfast, except maybe in some
of the nanny states in Northern Europe.
 
Personally I much prefer the Wild Wild West type of system.
 

Agree many are exceeding the limit, doing maybe 120-140, I doubt many are doing the (roughly) 200km/h they'd need to beat the train.


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[Ricardo]

"  there is no way that the controversial high speed Thai/Chinese rail project will fail. "

 

Famous last words ?

 

I'll stick my neck out and say, if the domestic passenger-revenue is the only source of payback for the new medium-speed heavy-freight line, then I don't think there is any way it can succeed !

 

Nor do I expect to be sitting on the new high-speed passenger-only line between Bangkok & Chiang Mai, within my lifetime.

 

 

[Bluespunk]

23 minutes ago, TEFLKrabi said:

Why spend all this money to please a few farangs and a few Thai weekenders. Build to for the people who build this country up every day #IsaanWorkers

Need to clear one thing up first

 

What exactly are you complaining about?

 

A Hua Hin link

 

Any link

 

My enjoying a train journey 

 

People expressing preferences

 

All of the above. 

[CLW]

What is this government's obsession with the high speed rail line? I don't understand.
It would be much better and economic to upgrade the existing rail system to 2 tracks and average speed 160km/h. How many countries (let alone China and Japan) have exclusive high speed tracks? Even in Germany there are only parts of the network usable for high speed because of the high cost to operate such tracks.

[tezzainthailand]

4 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

Build one to Hua Hin first.

Build one from Hua Hin to Korat.  I did the bus trip several  weeks ago, 9 gruelling hours, even allowing for the bypassing of Bangkok

[DieterWiehe]

6 hours ago, mikebell said:

Until it falls off the rails.  It happens once a week with slow trains.

wait if it hits the first Elephant herd in the national park  

[TEFLKrabi]

Need to clear one thing up first
 
What exactly are you complaining about?
 
A Hua Hin link
 
Any link
 
My enjoying a train journey 
 
People expressing preferences
 
All of the above. 

Just posting a preference for the Isaan Link. [emoji1][emoji1303]


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[yougivemebaby]

6 hours ago, worgeordie said:

No way will it fail,! unless they put really secure gates at all crossings,were

people on motorbikes and trucks cannot go around or even under.

regards worgeordie

There are no gates or crossings. High speed trains such as this have dedicated lines that zero cars or motorbikes can cross. Have you been living in a cave ?