Construction of Thailand's first double-rail track to be completed within two years

BANGKOK, January 9 (TNA) - The Ministry of Transport plans to shorten the construction period of Thailand's first standard double-rail track by half, from four years to two years, after a recent signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation of the project between Bangkok and Beijing. Thai Transport Minister Air Chief Marshal Prajin Juntong told journalists of the plan on Friday, expressing his confidence that the first phase of the standard gauge 1.435-metre double–rail track project would be completed within the targeted two-year period. Air Chief Marshal Prajin noted that the first double-rail track could cater up to the maximum speed of 180 kilometres per hour and would run from Nong Khai Province in the Thai Northeast, bordering Laos, to Map Ta Phut area in the Thai East through Khon Kaen Province in the Northeast and Kang Khoi area in the central Saraburi Province. The transport minister stated that the first meeting between Thai and Chinese officials will be held from January 20-22 and another meeting will be held next month, while designs on the project would be drawn immediately thereafter. The transport minister said he believed that designs could be ready by August 2015, when the Thai government would also know the actual costs of the project. According to the transport minister, the management of the country's first double rail train service will be under the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), but whether SRT would find a partner would depend on its decision in the future. (TNA)