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Published on October 1, 2007

Deputy director-general for finance and information Surapong Rongsirikul last week said the new unit would enhance the handling of cargo by rail.

"Initially, the unit will spend Bt70 million of a total of Bt800 million on equipment next year, and another Bt200 million the year after," said Surapong.

He said the new unit would facilitate the convenience of transporting goods by rail from any destination to Laem Chabang in Chon Buri.

He added that the PAT would be the sole service provider for the discharge of goods at the port. Until now shippers have done this themselves.

Surapong believes the new service will attract many customers.

The volume of 20-foot-equivalent units from the Lat Krabang inland container depot to Laem Chabang by rail is just 400,000 a year, compared with a total of four million annually transported to the port.

The amount of cargo by value transported by road is 87.5 per cent of the total, 6 per cent is by sea, 3.3 per cent by rail and 2.7 per cent by pipeline, according to the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning.

The office added that rail was not popular because services were not timely, besides which they were expensive.

The PAT called for bids for the service in 2003, but has now elected to do it itself.

Watcharapong Thongrung

 The Nation