New Eastern rail line gets on track

New Eastern rail line gets on track

A new 78-kilometre train line along the Eastern Seaboard linking Chachoengsao, Si Racha and Laem Chabang was opened yesterday to support the government's goal of reducing logistics costs.

The Chachoengsao-Laem Chabang dual-track railway was officially launched yesterday. Transport Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat said the new system will double the volume of export rail shipments from the North and Northeast to 800,000 freight cars a year. SONTANAPORN INCHAN

Deputy Transport Minister Chatt Kuldiloke, who presided over the opening ceremony, said the new line will help to upgrade the national rail network, thereby increasing the efficiency of product distribution as well as Thailand's competitiveness.

The route can accommodate 32 trains a day, but that capacity could be doubled if more locomotives are added, he said.

In a related development, Transport Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat said the government plans to connect Chon Buri's Laem Chabang deep-sea port with Satun's Pak Bara facility in the Deep South and Dawei, Burma with dual-track trains.

The plan is aimed at promoting Laem Chabang as a regional transport hub, moving into the top 10 of ports worldwide in the next decade from 22nd place now.

Under the government's single port policy, Laem Chabang will become a regional maritime hub once the dual-track train is completed in no longer than 10 years from now, with shipments bound for Europe, Africa and the Middle East, said ACM Sukumpol.

He said Pak Bara port on the Andaman Coast will be connected with Songkhla port on the eastern side of the peninsula, allowing transport time to be cut without the need to travel indirectly via the Strait of Malacca.

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