Bangkok-Hua Hin high-speed link delayed

[Gaybutton]

Until this article I didn't know such a high speed rail link was in the works. It doesn't make sense to me. I would have thought a Bangkok-Pattaya high speed rail link would be a much higher priority. Weekends and holidays produce massive traffic jams not only within Pattaya, but also on the expressways. It is not uncommon for people to end up spending most of the day in their cars just trying to get into Pattaya and then once they're in, finding a place to park. Once it's time to return to Bangkok, now the traffic jams are in the opposite direction. I don't recall ever reading about similar traffic jams trying to get in and out of Hua Hin.

For years there have been articles talking about such a Bangkok-Pattaya rail link, but as far as I know, talking about it once in a while is as far as it's ever gotten. A good high speed rail link between Bangkok and Pattaya, with the stations in the right locations and good public transportation, a lot of problems would be solved. That makes much more sense to me than that ridiculous Sukhumvit tunnel.
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Bangkok-Hua Hin high-speed link hits new delay

by Amornrat Mahitthirook

22 Feb 2017

Bidding for the Bangkok-Hua Hin high-speed train project is likely to be delayed after the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) was told to sound out the market more, an SRT source said.

The State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo) thought efforts to gauge interest from potential investors were inadequate so it has asked the railway agency to conduct another round in compliance with the public-private partnership law, said the source.

"The SRT sent out a letter to private investors without holding an open forum. Sepo found this unacceptable," the source said.

The SRT will need about two months to prepare a second attempt at sounding out the market, according to the source.

The 94.67-billion-baht Bangkok-Hua Hin rail line and the Bangkok-Rayong route worth 153 billion baht are among mass-transit projects set for fast-track consideration under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme.

According to the source, the Bangkok-Rayong route has not been submitted to Sepo for consideration pending a further study on potential areas for commercial development to create revenue and returns on investment.

Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith has told the SRT to prepare all necessary information, especially commercial development proposals, before the project is submitted to the PPP committee to ensure speedy consideration.

The source said both high-speed projects are likely to be financed under a net-cost PPP model, which is used for the Yellow and Pink mass-transit projects.

Under this model, the government is responsible for land expropriation fees and subsidies while the private sector will invest in the rail system and operate it and provide maintenance for the line under a 30-year contract.

The SRT is likely to allow investors to change the locations of train stations for commercial development purposes with certain conditions.

"Potential investors may find the eastern rail route unattractive due to possible low returns. So the SRT has to grant them the right to change train stations on the condition they be responsible for redesigning them and providing new environment and health impact assessment studies," the source said.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... -new-delay

[Jun]

Maybe it's just SRT inertia & lack of imagination.

There's already a line going from Bangkok to Hua Hin and much further south, all the way down to Singapore. This sustains multiple trains per day.
I've even used one of them from Surat Thani to Hua Hin and it was a pretty decent way to travel, although the stupid timetable ruled out going any further by train.

Meanwhile, if I read the following rather confusing time table correctly, there is one train a day from Bangkok to Pattaya. Even Aranya Prathet gets 2. It's easy to see why not many people use this at present, with one slow train per day.
http://tts.railway.co.th/m/pdf1.php?ln=en&line=3&trip=1

If they built a proper high speed service & run trains at sensible times, then a Bangkok to Pattaya service should be popular.

Also, if the whole lot were run by a proper private sector company, then they would probably run trains when the customers want to use them to raise more revenue. SRT don't seem to bother with that.

[pong]

This morning's BKK-post had an editorial about this line-and not much about h\the also planned PTY-Rayong line:
it seems the super-rich family holding the alco factual monopoly (Thai ''whiskey'' and beer) has already bought up large pieces of land along the projected line and plans to open some giant amusement park/Vacation camp (think of Disney-world Thai style-would appeal immensely to the usual ASEAN visitors). This editorial questioned why the Thai govmt would pay for such a line then where the receipts will not cover cost.

As for now on average 2 big buses serve BKK-Hin (several vans counted as 1 busload)-or 100 people/hr at best. That's completely insufficient for such a train line.

Also-again other as Jun thinks-its not at all by now certain it will automatically be the SRT to run this line-there would be, if it ever gets built, a contract-contest.

[christianpfc]

Plans for high-speed rail lines all over Thailand pop up now and then, only to be forgotten soon and pop up again after a few years. It's like the continuous crack-downs on taxi mafia and jet ski scams.

There is a movie Groundhog Day (I haven't watched it) that describes a similar situation.

[readerc54]

Agree. It's much easier to declare victory and move on.