Rail contracts ready for Prayut's China trip

Rail contracts ready for Prayut's China trip

Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith says Thailand and China have agreed on two more contracts on the Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima train project. (Post Today file photo)
Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith says Thailand and China have agreed on two more contracts on the Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima train project. (Post Today file photo)

Representatives on both sides of the Thai-Chinese high-speed railway project have agreed on two contracts worth 5.2 billion baht in design and supervision fees for the Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima rail project, Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith says.

He said the contracts had to be quickly concluded in light of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's upcoming visit to China on Sept 4-5. According to Mr Arkhom, the contracts must be ready in time so the premier and Chinese representatives can sign them, in order to meet the deadline for the project's foundation-laying phase in October.

The first contract, concerning the project's design and planning stages, is valued at 1.7 billion baht, Mr Arkhom said. He added it is due for submission to the cabinet by next week.

The other one details the project's supervision expenses and is valued at 3.5 billion baht, he said.

The minister said the second contract will have to be submitted to the cabinet this month so it can be approved in time for the premier's China trip.

The latest meeting on the Thai-Chinese high-speed railway project, its 20th thus far, also concluded that engineering workshops in Tianjin, China will be provided for the 430 Thai engineers that are due to work on the project. The workshops will commence from Sept 22, Mr Arkhom said.

China will fund the workshops, which will include lessons in operation and maintenance of Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) trains, he said. These are self-propelled carriages that do not require a separate locomotive.

After wrapping up the first 3.5km section linking Klang Dong and Pang Asok in Nakhon Ratchasima's Pak Chong district, Mr Arkhom said Thailand and China will begin discussing details for further steps of the project.

They include rail links from Pak Chong to Klong Khanan Chit (11km), Kaeng Khoi to Nakhon Ratchasima (119.5km) and Kaeng Khoi to Bang Sue (119km). Mr Arkhom said the details will be concluded in the next eight months.

Dual track lines, specifically those in Nakhon Ratchasima, may be located nearby high-speed railway lines in the future due to similarities in their routing, he said.

The total value of the Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima stretch has been estimated at 179 billion baht.

The government said earlier that passengers will be able to travel from the capital to this key eastern province in an hour and 17 minutes using the new rail links within four years, with one-way fares costing 535 baht.

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