Trains and travel in Thailand

The 1^st meeting of the 2024/5 season took place at Carnforth on 2^nd October when David Bousfield presented a slide show on the Railway system in Thailand following recent visits to the country.

He began in the capital Bangkok from where the various long-distance lines radiate featuring a mix of images of rolling stock and the large diesel locomotives that are used on long distance trains as well as a set on the Bangkok metro system which includes a new mono-rail system.

The system is predominantly metre gauge, much of which was built in the early part of the 20^th century. Northern lines were originally built standard gauge but were converted to metre gauge in the 1920’s to align with the Southern line. Now a massive development programme is underway to double significant miles of metre gauge track and add a new system with standard gauge high-speed trains. Major station developments are also taking place, notably in Bangkok where a totally new main station has been opened some distance from the Centre.

The presentation also covered other local transport including river ferries to connect between lines, buses and mini vans to bring tourist areas within reach of the railway, and even the popular tuk-tuk transport. A section was devoted to the infamous Thai-Burma Railway crossing the Kwai Bridge.

It was a fascinating insight into another County’s rail system which is run with military precision and staffed by smartly uniformed workers. Interestingly the Bangkok metro routes are run by different companies and feature a lack of integrated ticketing – sounds familiar!