Stolen rail plates, screws caused train derailment

Six carriages of train No.255 from Thon Buri to Lang Suan station lie askew after they derailed in Cha-am district, Phetchaburi province around noon on Monday. (Photo taken from @pr.railway Facebook page)
Six carriages of train No.255 from Thon Buri to Lang Suan station lie askew after they derailed in Cha-am district, Phetchaburi province around noon on Monday. (Photo taken from @pr.railway Facebook page)

The owner of a scrap metal shop has been arrested for the theft of rail track screws and base plates that caused a passenger train derailment in Petchaburi province on Monday, blocking the main southern line for 12 hours.

The State Railway of Thailand said on Tuesday the derailment of train No.255, en route from Thon Buri to Lang Suan station in Chumphon province, was caused by missing screws and plates used to fasten the rails to the sleepers.

Six carriages of the train jumped the tracks about noon on Monday between Huay Sai Tai station and Hua Hin station. There were no injuries reported.  Rail services between Bangkok and the South did not resume until around midnight.

Worawut Mala, acting SRT governor, said an inspection found 168 rail fastening screws and 40 base plates had been stolen and 340 sleepers damaged over a distance of 342 metres. He had ordered railway officials to file a police complaint.

Police and railway officials raided Rungcharoen scrap metal shop in Cha-am district of Phetchaburi about 7.30pm on Monday. They found and seized 25 rail base plates and 66 rail screws.

Owner Supachai Padsri was taken into police custody for colluding in theft and receiving stolen items.

According to police, Mr Supachai said a person had brought the items to his shop for sale a few days ago. He was busy at the time and did not ask to see the seller's ID card when he bought them.

He denied all charges.

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Vocabulary

  • carriage: one of the vehicles that are joined together to make a train - ตู้โดยสาร
  • collude: to act together secretly or illegally in order to deceive or cheat someone - สมรู้ร่วมคิด
  • complaint: when someone says that something is wrong or not satisfactory - การบ่น, ข้อที่ไม่พอใจ
  • derailment (noun): when a train goes off the railway tracks it travels along - ตกราง
  • plate: a flat piece of metal with some information, design, etc. on it - แผ่นโลหะ
  • resume: to begin again after stopping for a period of time - เริ่มอีกครั้ง, กลับมาอีกครั้ง
  • scrap: old metal or paper that can be used again after going through a special process - เหล็กเก่า ๆ สำหรับหล่อหลอมและเปลี่ยนรูปใหม่,เศษเหล็ก, เป็นชิ้นเล็กชิ้นน้อย
  • screw: a thin pointed piece of metal like a nail with a raised spiral (circular) line (called a thread) - ตะปูควง
  • sleeper: one of the heavy pieces of wood or concrete on which the rails on a railway/railroad track are laid - ไม้หมอน (รางรถไฟ)

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