Thailand-China high-speed train construction kicks off
After quite a long discussion about payments details and technical responsibilities, the construction of the Thai-Chinese high-speed railway line eventually got started. The line will ink link Thailand, Laos and China on a newly-built path and deploy modern Chinese high-speed trains.
Construction officially began on December 21 with a ground-breaking ceremony in the northeastern Thai province of Nakhon Ratchasima. The new will be the first such high-speed railway for Thailand, a country notorious for its cold war-era, antiquated and rather dysfunctional railway system running at no more than 60 km/h, while the new bullet train will reach speeds of around 250 km/h.
The first phase of the project, a 250-kilometer rail track linking Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima, is expected to be operational in 2021. The full line is planned to stretch 873 kilometers, linking Thailand and Laos at the northeastern Thai city of Nong Khai.
Estimated to cost $5.2 billion, it is part of Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road infrastructure drive, which aims to build a modern-day “Silk Road” connecting China to economies in Southeast and Central Asia by land and the Middle East and Europe by sea. The railway line across Thailand is also planned to be extended southwards to Malaysia and Singapore at some point in the future, eventually linking China’s southeastern metropolis of Kunming with the city state.
The railway is estimated to bring an extra two million Chinese tourists to Thailand every year and will allow China to export agricultural products with greater ease. It will also serve as a new means of transport for Thai locals, although many have criticised that ticket fares would be too high for average persons.
After quite a long discussion about payments details and technical responsibilities, the construction of the Thai-Chinese high-speed railway line eventually got started. The line will ink link Thailand, Laos and China on a newly-built path and deploy modern Chinese high-speed trains. Construction officially began on December 21 with a ground-breaking ceremony in the northeastern Thai province of Nakhon Ratchasima. The new will be the first such high-speed railway for Thailand, a country notorious for its cold war-era, antiquated and rather dysfunctional railway system running at no more than 60 km/h, while the new bullet train will reach speeds of around...
After quite a long discussion about payments details and technical responsibilities, the construction of the Thai-Chinese high-speed railway line eventually got started. The line will ink link Thailand, Laos and China on a newly-built path and deploy modern Chinese high-speed trains.
Construction officially began on December 21 with a ground-breaking ceremony in the northeastern Thai province of Nakhon Ratchasima. The new will be the first such high-speed railway for Thailand, a country notorious for its cold war-era, antiquated and rather dysfunctional railway system running at no more than 60 km/h, while the new bullet train will reach speeds of around 250 km/h.
The first phase of the project, a 250-kilometer rail track linking Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima, is expected to be operational in 2021. The full line is planned to stretch 873 kilometers, linking Thailand and Laos at the northeastern Thai city of Nong Khai.
Estimated to cost $5.2 billion, it is part of Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road infrastructure drive, which aims to build a modern-day “Silk Road” connecting China to economies in Southeast and Central Asia by land and the Middle East and Europe by sea. The railway line across Thailand is also planned to be extended southwards to Malaysia and Singapore at some point in the future, eventually linking China’s southeastern metropolis of Kunming with the city state.
The railway is estimated to bring an extra two million Chinese tourists to Thailand every year and will allow China to export agricultural products with greater ease. It will also serve as a new means of transport for Thai locals, although many have criticised that ticket fares would be too high for average persons.
