(CTN News) – The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) announced that the last three double-track railway sections had been cleared for construction, with an estimated cost of more than 164 billion baht.
The 678-kilometre routes were part of seven double-track railway megaprojects. They include the 168.2km Chumporn-Surat Thani line (30.4 billion baht), the 321km Surat Thani-Songkhla route (66.2 billion baht), and the 189km Denchai-Chiang Mai route.
All seven routes are worth about 270 billion baht.
Following approval, the SRT board stated that it is now in the process of presenting the project report to the Transportation Ministry by the end of June before soliciting feedback from various organizations, including the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council.
The procedure entails assessing financial sources, which could include local and international loans, as well as a portion of the current fiscal year’s budget.
SRT predicted that the idea for its final three projects will be presented to the Cabinet for additional approval between July and October.
Timeline for Thailand’s Railway Projects
If this megaproject is approved, the State Railway of Thailand will issue a Royal Decree on Land Expropriation from November 2023 to August 2025, prior to beginning the survey and appraisal of real estate. This is projected to be completed by May 2025, with the process of arranging land ownership starting between June 2026 and May 2027.
Along with the aforementioned process, SRT announced that it will go forward with its planned implementation of these projects, which involves the preparation of terms of reference (TOR) to hire civil construction contractors. The procurement process would begin in November, with the tender finished by May 2025.
The contractor will be asked to begin construction on the project right away. The project will take five to six years to complete before launching in 2031.
Furthermore, the SRT reported the most recent status of the Khon Kaen-Nong Khai double-track routes, for which the board announced the methods and conditions of electronic bidding with a median price of 28.7 billion baht on June 21.
The e-bidding process is planned to culminate in October, allowing construction to begin early next year and open by the end of 2027.
The double-track railway system represents the country’s ambitious aim to increase railway logistics and transit efficiency. The project is intended to reduce travel time to Thailand’s southern region by at least 30%, with several routes saving up to two hours.
Meanwhile, the railway improvement would save energy, reduce pollution, and increase connectivity with adjacent countries.