News of Hua Lamphong Station's impending closure after 105 years of service sent chills down every Bangkokian's spine.
How could it not? For 105 years, the station, with all its flaws, has faithfully served travellers from all walks of life. Commuters who rely on its cheap intercity services that run in all directions from the beating heart of the city, travellers eager to see what the rest of Bangkok has to offer and even people passing by to admire the station's anachronistic beauty from afar, all have memories of what was once the capital's grand station.
People have begun seeing the station through sepia-toned lenses. Concerned residents, cultural activists and even the State Railway of Thailand's (SRT) workers union have mounted stiff opposition to a plan to "commercially develop" the station, a move many fear is a shorthand for the construction of a retail complex.
Regardless of opposition against the project, a date for the station's closure was set and an unofficial rendering of what the station would look like was released, prompting the public to begin mourning the end of the station as if it was the death of a relative.
Amid the growing public unease over the station's fate, the authorities have decided to give the station a new lease on life. Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob, who had earlier said the station will have to close, ordered a fresh study into the impact of ending rail services from Hua Lamphong.
Today, with limited services still being offered at the station, Hua Lamphong is essentially on life support. When the study concludes in a few weeks, will the result make a difference?
Simply put, Bangkok has outgrown Hua Lamphong, and the absence of meaningful investment into upgrading the rail infrastructure around it means it has little chance of retaining its functionality. The single track system that brings trains from Greater Bangkok as well as the North and Northeast to Hua Lamphong has been used for decades, which forces trains to wait to enter inner city area.
Not having additional tracks in the inner city creates a bottleneck and trains will often have no choice but to move slowly until the congestion clears. Novel as it may be to tourists, the situation isn't ideal for commuters who depend on the trains to get where they need to be.
There are ways to address these problems, but the SRT, being the debt-ridden enterprise that it is, has its hands tied. Where would the money to lay new tracks and improve train signalling come from?
Furthermore, given how the city essentially has grown around the station, any major improvement work to address the station's problems -- for example, tunnelling underneath the existing structure to create more platforms and space for tracks -- would simply be too costly for the SRT.
This year, the SRT is known to have accrued debts of almost 200 billion baht, but authorities concerned, Mr Saksayam included, seem to be more interested in playing realtor and moving assets under its subsidiaries than plugging the financial black hole that is the SRT.
Ultimately, the government will be forced to acknowledge that throwing more money to the SRT won't solve its chronic debt problem.
What the SRT needs isn't some clever accounting; what it desperately needs is to transform from an anachronistic state enterprise to a lean and efficient transport operator.
Without such a change in mindset, there is no guarantee that Bang Sue Grand Station won't suffer the same fate as Hua Lamphong 100 years down the line. The SRT must realise that having a monopoly doesn't mean it can rest on its laurels and understand that in many cases, it can be detrimental to a business' survival, as the lack of competition also means no impetus for innovation.
While it is probably too late to do anything significant to sustain operations at Hua Lamphong and prevent its closure, it isn't too late to cushion the blow to commuters.
What the SRT should do now is focus on improving the passenger experience and connectivity in and around Bang Sue, which despite its status as the capital's new rail hub, is not as well-connected to the city centre. While the station is connected with the city's subway system, it is only a viable option for relatively affluent workers who can afford its fares -- which automatically excludes many passengers who rely on the Greater Bangkok commuter rail.