Red Line now to run on diesel
The red line suburban train system will run on diesel, not electricity, as originally planned by the Thaksin Shinawatra administration, according to the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning.
The Red Line, which has already won Cabinet approval to open bidding, will get commuters from Bangkok's outskirts to the inner city more conveniently, Pranote Suriya, deputy of the transport-planning office, said last week. He said the suburban network as conceived by the current government would encourage people to go by rail more frequently. The mass-transit system will use both "standard" and electric trains. The Red Line's two sections - Taling Chan-Bang Sue and Bang Sue-Rangsit - will be constructed for standard trains. The Blue, Purple and Green lines will run electric trains. The 137-kilometre system requires an investment of Bt165.4 billion Other revisions to the Red Line's initial design involve track, platforms, financing and distance. It has been extended from 32km to 60km. Under the detailed design method proposed by the incumbent administration, the private sector can take responsibility for the investment, whereas the previous "design-and-build'' type of contract would have meant the government picking up the entire tab. The suburban route is now designed to be elevated at intersections and underground at points where environmental impact is a concern. Stations will be two to four kilometres apart. Tracks will have the same width as existing mass-transit rail routes so that trains from upcountry can continue onto the Red Line, allowing commuters from dormitory towns in Nakhon Pathom, Ayutthaya and Chachoengsao to travel to Bangkok more conveniently. The State Railway of Thailand will buy special carriages to run on the suburban rail routes to carry outlying passengers to Bang Sue station, expected to become the hub of Bangkok's mass-transit rail system. The Red Line's Taling Chan-Bang Sue section is expected to open for bidding next month, with construction commencing in February. The Bang Sue-Rangsit project is scheduled to be submitted to the Cabinet in August with bidding likely next July. "The planned electric and standard rail projects will be submitted to the Cabinet during the current government. The Red Line's Taling Chan-Bang Sue section and the Purple Line are expected to open for bidding in this term and the rest in the next government," Pranote added.
Watcharapong Thongrung The Nation
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