BANGKOK, April 25 — The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) early Wednesday cleared four oil tanker train bogies derailed Tuesday afternoon in Bangkok’s Don Mueang district, allowing northern and northeastern rail services to resume since 1am today.
Service to Ubon Ratchathani was the first train after the oil tankers were removed from blocking the railway. One track was to be temporarily used as the Bangkok bound track needed repairs.
The oil tanker carriages derailed at around 3pm Tuesday, blocking tracks and leaking 200,000 litres of crude oil in the immediate area. The 27-carriage train was en route from Phitsanulok to Bangkok to deliver oil to the Bangchak Petroleum refinery.
Bangchak and SRT workers were transferring the remaining oil into trucks for delivery to the refinery, with only two tanker carriages left to empty.
SRT officials said that when the oil was unloaded, the carriages would be pulled into the Bang Sue locomotive workshop and the damaged rail track would be repaired to resume the dual track operations normally, a procedure which was expected to be completed in two days.
The initial estimated damage was around Bt160 million.
