State Railway of Thailand


The State Railway of Thailand is the state-owned rail operator under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport in Thailand.

History

The SRT was founded as the Royal State Railways of Siam in 1890. King Chulalongkorn ordered the Department of Railways to be set up under the Department of Public Works and Town and Country Planning. Construction of the Bangkok-Ayutthaya railway, the first part of the Northern Line, was started in 1890 and inaugurated on 26 March 1896.
The Thonburi-Phetchaburi line, later the Southern Line, was opened on 19 June 1903. The first railway commander of the RSR was Prince Purachatra Jayakara.
The Northern Line was originally built as , but in September 1919 it was decided to standardize on and the Northern Line was regauged during the next ten years. On 1 July 1951, RSR changed its name to the present State Railway of Thailand, which has status as a state enterprise agency.
SRT had of track, all of it meter gauge except the Airport Link. Nearly all is single-track, although some important sections around Bangkok are double or triple-tracked and there are plans to extend this. By comparison, Thailand has 390,000 km of highways.
, the network serves 47 provinces and around 35 million passengers annually. The passenger count is expected to double by 2027 when expansion plans are realised and the network grows to serve 61 provinces. On 7 April 2020, the Thai cabinet named Nirut Maneephan as the new chief of the SRT, the 29th governor in its history.

SRT issues

Financial performance

SRT's budget from the central government for FY2019 is 9,987 million baht, down from 12,914 million baht in FY2018.
In 2017, the SRT lost 17 billion baht. The SRT has suffered a loss every year since it was turned into a state-owned enterprise under the Transport Ministry in 1951. The SRT has debts amounting to nearly 100 billion baht, and its annual operating losses are estimated at a minimum of 10 billion baht.
In 2017 the military government budgeted more than 76 billion baht for SRT infrastructure investments. The funding is to be used for double-track rail expansions, an extension of Bangkok's elevated railway, and construction of bridges, fences, and track improvements. In the fiscal year ending 30 September 2016, however, the SRT had managed to disburse only 53 percent of its allotted investment budget of 60 billion baht. This compares with an average disbursement rate of 80 percent by Thailand's other 55 state-owned enterprises. Disbursement rate is seen as an indicator of efficient management. "If you look at the SRT they are a bit like a patient in and everyone is saying to him 'you are the future' and trying to kick him out of bed when he is still moaning and groaning," said Ruth Banomyong, a logistics and transport expert at Thammasat University.
The worst financially performing state enterprise, the SRT consistently operates at a loss despite being endowed with large amounts of property—the SRT is one of Thailand's largest land holders, owning an estimated 39,840 hectares— and receiving large government subsidies. It reported a preliminary loss of 7.58 billion baht in 2010. Recurring government attempts at restructuring and/or privatization throughout the 2000s have always been strongly opposed by the union and have not made any progress.
SRT's latest property development scheme is the Chao Phraya Gateway project. It capitalises on SRT's 277 rai, 1.16 kilometre stretch of land on the river in the Khlong Toei District. The SRT hopes the project will help clear its 100 billion baht debt. The project is projected to break even within eight years and deliver profits of 140 billion baht., SRT's plans are being submitted to the Transport Ministry for approval.
SRT's failings are reflected in passenger numbers, which, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit have dropped from 88 million in 1994 to 44 million in 2014. The SRT has long been popularly perceived by the public as inefficient and resistant to change. Trains are usually late, and most of its equipment is old and poorly maintained. Although SRT's operational costs amount to two baht per kilometre traveled, SRT fares defray only a fraction of that cost. SRT has not been permitted to hike fares hike since 1985.
Under the auspices of the Transport Ministry, the SRT has submitted a rehabilitation plan that will be presented to the State Enterprise Policy Commission on 30 July 2018. The commission, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is expected to approve the plan. The plan calls for SRT to become the largest railway state enterprise in ASEAN. By 2027, anticipating income growth from asset management and cost management, SRT foresees profits of over 20 billion baht.

Hopewell litigation

of Hong Kong was the lead contractor for SRT's ill-fated Bangkok Elevated Road and Train System. The project commenced in 1990 and was terminated by the Thai government in 1998, only 13% complete. Hopewell and the SRT each blamed the other for the failure of the 80 billion baht project. Both parties sued, and the case has been in litigation since its cancellation. On 23 April 2019, Thailand's Supreme Administrative Court upheld an arbitration committee's ruling in favour of Hopewell. The court ordered SRT to pay Hopewell compensation of 11.88 billion baht, plus 7.5% interest per year. The interest, totaling 13 billion baht, brings SRT's total liability to nearly 25 billion baht, payable within 180 days.

Lack of freight revenue

Rail freight, which is cheaper—only roughly half the cost of road transport—safer, and more environmentally-friendly than road transport, accounted for only 1.4 percent of freight tonnage carried in 2015. SRT aims to boost its share of cargo transport to six percent with its double track expansion by 2022. Expansion of SRT's freight service, which could earn more money than the heavily subsidized passenger service, has been neglected for decades in favour of Thailand's roads.

Workforce

The SRT's poor financial performance and resistance to reform, coupled with the Asian financial crisis of 1997, resulted in stringent restraints being placed on SRT staffing. In July 1998, the Thai cabinet issued an order that the SRT could only hire five new employees for every 100 retirees., the order remains in effect. SRT officials estimated in 2017 that the enterprise needed to boost staff by 20 percent to 12,000. In 2018 SRT claims that it needs 18,015 employees to operate efficiently, but only has 10,035 on staff. The train maintenance workforce has dwindled to 500 from 3,000 over the past 30 years. To make up the shortfall, the SRT hires around 4,000 "daily workers", usually on daily wages of 300 baht. It has also caused the SRT to pay massive amounts of overtime pay to current employees. For example, one station master in Pattani was paid 61,210 baht in monthly salary, but also an additional 102,271 baht in overtime pay.
, SRT employed 10,292 permanent staffers and 4,038 temporary contractors, totaling 14,220. In that month the SRT Board approved the addition of 1,330 new workers to bring the workforce to 15,660, still fewer than needed to address staff shortages.

Management issues

To address a long list of complaints accusing SRT of a lack of transparency in bids for projects and procurement deals, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha fired the governor and board of the State Railway of Thailand in February 2017, using his special powers under Section 44 of the interim constitution.

Ticketing

Tickets may be purchased on-line starting 1 February 2017. Tickets may be purchased from 60 days in advance to two hours before departure.

Network

The SRT operates all of Thailand's national rail lines. Bangkok railway station is the main terminus of all routes. Phahonyothin and ICD Ladkrabang are the main freight terminals.

Northern Line

The Northern Line runs alongside the Northeastern Line until the Ban Phachi Junction. There, it splits from the Northeastern Line and proceeds through Lopburi, Nakhon Sawan, Phichit, Phitsanulok, Denchai, Lampang, Lamphun, before finally reaching Chiang Mai, 751 km from Bangkok. There is also a branch off the mainline from Ban Dara Junction to Sawankhalok in Sukhothai Province.
The Northeastern Line begins on the same route as the Northern Line, splitting at Ban Phachi Junction towards Nakhon Ratchasima. Then at Thanon Chira Junction, the line splits with one route passing Khon Kaen and Udon Thani before terminating at Nong Khai 624 kilometers from Bangkok. The other route passes through Buriram, Surin, Sisaket to reach Ubon Ratchathani, 575 km from Bangkok.
There is also another branch route originating from Kaeng Khoi Junction in Saraburi Province passing through Chai Badan District in Lopburi Province and Chatturat District in Chaiyaphum Province, before joining the mainline heading towards Nong Khai at Bua Yai Junction in Nakhon Ratchasima Province.
The Southern Line begins in Bangkok and heads west towards Nakhon Pathom before splitting into three different routes. One route heads west to Kanchanaburi Province while another heads north towards Suphan Buri. The Southern Line itself continues southbound through Ratchaburi, Phetchaburi, Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, Chumphon, to Surat Thani 678 kilometers distant. From Surat Thani, there is a westerly branch towards Khiri Rat Nikhom while the main line continues south to Thung Song Junction in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province where another branch reaches Kantang in Trang Province. Not far away, another branch separates off the mainline at Khao Chum Thong Junction. The main line from Nakhon Sri Thammarat continues through Phatthalung before reaching Hat Yai Junction in Songkhla Province. From here, a line branches to connect with the Malaysian railway at Padang Besar and the mainline continues to Su-ngai Kolok passing through Yala Province.
The Eastern Line begins at Bangkok before heading through Chacheongsao, Prachinburi to terminate at Aranyaprathet in Sa Kaew Province, 255 kilometers from Bangkok. There is a reopened rail link to Cambodia from Aranyaprathet. A branch line also connects Khlong Sip Kao Junction to the Northeastern Line at Kaeng Khoi Junction. At Chachoengsao Junction, there is another branch to Sattahip. Along the route to Sattahip, at Si Racha Junction, there is yet another branch towards Laem Chabang Deep Sea Port and further at Khao Chi Chan Junction for Map Ta Phut Port, in Rayong.
The Maeklong Railway, also operated by the SRT, is independent of the national rail network and is split into two sections. The line begins at Wongwian Yai in Bangkok before terminating at Mahachai where a ferry is used by passengers to cross the Tha Chin River. The line starts again across the river at Ban Laem and continues towards Mae Klong.

Services

Intercity services

SRT operates intercity passenger services on the following lines:

Northern Line

SRT previously operated international services to Butterworth in Penang, Malaysia, in conjunction with Malaysian state operator KTM. However, since early 2016 there is now just one "International Express" in each direction per day and this service now terminates at Padang Besar Station on the Thai/Malay border.
A link across the First Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge to Thanaleng railway station, near Vientiane, opened in March 2009.
There are plans to re-open rail links to Cambodia via Poipet from the railhead at Aranyaprathet. Railway connections to Myanmar, notably the infamous Death Railway, are defunct.
In December 2010, following Chinese plans to extend their network to Xishuangbanna on the China-Laos border and further into Laos, the Thai government agreed to start negotiations on building a standard-gauge network. This would initially involve two lines: from Bangkok to the Lao border, and a longer line from Bangkok along the peninsula to the Malay border.
SRT also allows operation of the Eastern and Oriental Express on their tracks which runs from Singapore to Bangkok and vice versa, with a few trips to Laos and Chiang Mai.

Rail links to adjacent countries

The SRT operates commuter rail services from Bangkok along the Northern and Northeastern Lines up to Ayutthaya, Ban Phachi Junction, Lopburi and Kaeng Khoi Junction. Ten trains run along the route on a daily basis. A new service serving between Thonburi and Sala Ya was launched on 22 October 2010.
The Red Line project is a new commuter rail system also owned by the SRT. It is currently under construction and will replace portions of rail lines running through Bangkok, eliminating at-grade crossings.

Other passenger services

SRT operates the Airport Link to Suvarnabhumi Airport which opened in 2010. It is medium speed and links with BTS Skytrain at Phaya Thai station and MRT at Phetchaburi MRT station.

Freight

Thai railways transported around 11 million tons of freight per year in 2007-2012, which was around 2% of the total amount of freight moved by all modes of transportation. While it is possible for freight trains to travel between Thailand and the neighboring countries, the amount of international rail freight presently constitutes only a minuscule portion of Thailand's foreign trade. In 2012, merely 95 thousand tons of export cargo left Thailand by rail, as compared to 12 million tons of cargo exported by road, and 114 million tons of cargo exported by ship. For import, the rail transport's share was even smaller.
Thai railways transport both bulk freight and containerized freight. Most of the freight movement is between Bangkok and sea ports.
In an attempt to increase the railway's share of the nation's freight transportation market, in 2016 the SRT, in a joint project with Japan, started experimenting with small, 12-foot containers. It is thought that, being smaller than the standard 20-foot containers, these containers can be more easily transported by truck between a rail station and the end customer. These containers are being tried on two routes from Bangkok's Bang Sue station: a 722-km route to Lamphun Province in the north of the country, and a 433-km route to Khon Kaen in the northeast.

Locomotives and multiple units

Active fleet

Diesel locomotives

Diesel multiple units

Former types

Diesel hydraulic locomotives

Future railways

Double tracking

Currently 200 km of double tracking project from Chachoengsao to Saraburi is projected to complete by end 2020.
Most of Thailand's roughly 4,000 km rail network is single track. A government initiative to move air and road transport to rail passed a major milestone on 28 December 2017 when the SRT signed nine contracts with private contractors to complete double tracking on 702 km of the SRT network. This phase one of the double-tracking project will cost 69.5 billion baht. The government's aim is to reduce the nation's logistical overhead, some 1.75 trillion baht, by moving air and road freight to rail. Moving a tonne of freight by rail costs 0.93 baht per kilometre compared with 1.72 baht by road. As of the contract signing date, 86 percent of Thailand's freight moves by road and only two percent by rail.
Phase one of the project will see the following five sections of double track laid by 2022:
Cabinet approval is expected to allow the signing of contracts for phase two of the double tracking project by March 2018. The second phase will add a second track to 2,217 km of single track over nine rail links at a cost of 398 billion baht. Government plans call for an overall investment of 600 billion baht to create 2,588 km of double tracks.

Station demolition

The SRT board approved a plan to demolish and rebuild 298 stations as part of the double tracking upgrades. The SRT is seeking two billion baht for the demolition and reconstruction job. Also gone will be the traditional vanilla and maroon paint scheme employed by SRT since its founding. Stations to the south are to be painted blue, symbolizing the sea, and stations to the north are to be green, symbolizing forests.

High Speed Railways

Bangkok–Chiang Mai Shinkansen

Japan has proposed Shinkansen technology for a high-speed rail link between Bangkok and the northern city of Chiang Mai.
In August 2016, according to the Transport Minister Arkom Termpittayapaisith, Thailand and Japan discussed a high-speed train to link Bangkok and Chiang Mai. Japan agreed to use the Shinkansen as its bullet train model.
In December 2017 Japan reported to Thailand that construction of a Shinkansen-style bullet train between the two cities would cost the Thai government 420 billion baht. The line would consist of 300 km/h trains traveling between the two cities in 3.5 hours, stopping at 12 stations en route. Fares would start at 80 baht, with a surcharge of 1.5 baht per kilometre. Full fares are expected to be just over 1,000 baht. Reacting to the high cost estimate, the Thai government instructed the Transport Ministry to study the possibility of reducing the train's maximum speed to 180–200 km/h in an effort to cut costs.
A feasibility study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency in mid-2018 reported that the train as planned would run at a loss. JICA's study projects only 10,000 passengers per day on the route, as opposed to the 30,000 per day forecasted in the original planning proposals. To be profitable from ticket sales would require 50,000 fares per day.
The first phase of the 670 km long Bangkok-Chiang Mai bullet train project is the 380 km Bangkok to Phitsanulok stretch. It is estimated to cost 280 billion baht. Seven stations have been planned for this segment: Bang Sue, Don Mueang, Ayutthaya, Lopburi, Nakhon Sawan, Phichit, and Phitsanulok. To reduce costs, Thai authorities have proposed reducing the number of stations, but JICA has rejected this suggestion on the grounds that it defeats the original purpose of the project. This portion of the route is scheduled to be submitted to the Thai cabinet for financial approval in August 2018. Completion of the entire Bangkok–Chiang Mai line is projected to be 2025.
The Thai government announced in September 2019 that it may cancel three high-speed rail projects after private investors declined to invest. One of the projects is the Bangkok-Chiang Mai route. The cost of the 670 kilometre line is estimated to be 400 billion baht. Japan has turned down the project as a bad investment due to low passenger projections. Two additional routes, Bangkok to Surat Thani and Rayong to Trat are also in jeopardy.

Thai-Chinese railway

China and Thailand are building a high-speed railway in two phases: Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima and Nakhon Ratchasima-Nong Khai. This route's trains will operate at about 250 km/h