BANGKOK, Nov 21 – Thailand’s northern trains are to resume service December 1 after a more than two month closure for rail maintenance, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) head said today.
SRT Governor Prapas Chongsa-nguan confirmed the reopening of northbound train services after the SRT temporarily closed a significant stretch of the popular rail route between Sila At in Uttaradit to the railhead in Chiang Mai since September 16 for maintenance following a number of derailments.
The SRT governor said the maintenance work is 90 per cent completed. Most important, he said, is the installation of barricades in four tunnels to prevent the fall of a train if it derails, as well as installing ventilation to allow passengers to walk through the tunnels to the exit if an accident occurs.
Most rail maintenance has also been done. All work will be complete by the end of this month and the northern train service will resume operation December 1.
Mr Prapas said defective rails have been removed in the maintenance. However he noted that SRT’s locomotives are quite old and some spare parts are no longer produced.
The SRT is seeking to buy new locomotives, with new engines to be used for the northern trains, he said, emphasing that there will not be frequent accidents as in the past.
