THAILAND: The Prime Minister’s Office formally approved State Railway of Thailand’s request for 29·7m baht to double-track the Khon Kaen – Nong Khai railway line on October 16.
The 167 km long metre-gauge north-south route runs to Nong Khai near the border with Laos. It handles a significant amount of freight traffic, and the enhancement is expected to increase the capacity of goods flowing between Thailand, Laos and China while reducing transportation costs.
The project would consist of the construction of six new stations and the reconstruction of a further eight. The scope includes construction of 31 road bridges and 53 road underpasses, as well as installing fencing along the double-track sections. Civil works are expected to start next year.
The corridor linking Bangkok with Khon Kaen has already been double-tracked as part of a national programme that is expected to cover up to 2 500 route-km of SRT’s more than 4 000 km metre-gauge network.
- An in-depth analysis of the Thai double-tracking programme appeared in the March 2020 issue of Railway Gazette International, available to subscribers in our digital archive.
