BANGKOK, 22 May 2014 — The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) will start the maintenance and repair of the southern railway tracks as planned but ruled out the closure of the line.
SRT governor, Prapat Chongsa-nguan, said on Wednesday that contractors had started to bring all materials needed for the task. Prapat said after the survey that the SRT had decided not to close the southern railway tracks during the maintenance as large numbers of travelers depended on the southern rail services.
Contractors would work only three to four hours a day during the daytime when trains are not in operation. Prapat said all the works should be completed by the end of 2016. The new tracks will enable the southern train to run at an average speed of 60 km per hour, double the current average speed.
