BANGKOK, Nov 26 — More than 100 private rail companies worldwide are participating in the Smart Rail Asia Congress and Expo 2014 at Bangkok International Trade Exhibition Centre ( BITEC) in the Thai capital’s Bang Na district.
Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra presided over the opening ceremony of the event earlier today.
The expo is the biggest in the Southeast Asian region on railways and related systems and is a platform for rail companies from all over the world to showcase new technologies that could assist in developing transportation infrastructure, improve rail logistics, and be used to create a rail network system between Thailand and ASEAN.
Investment in Thailand’s rail system in the next two years is projected at Bt800 billion, and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) also plans to become the hub of rail systems within the ASEAN region to cater to the growing economy and investments.
Academician and rail system adviser Kanchit Piewnuan said the most important factor that Thailand should take into consideration when choosing a rail system is to look at the service records of trains around the world such as in China, Europe, and Japan to see which country’s system would best suit the nation.