Japan is interested in developing a 230 billion baht high-speed train service from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and Rayong, says Supoj Saplom, permanent secretary of the Transport Ministry
Mr Supoj said he had learned about the interest at a meeting yesterday with Akira Yonezawa, deputy director-general for engineering affairs at Japan's Railway Bureau. The full line would be more than 800km long, he was told. The two met a day after a high-speed train accident in China that killed 35 people.
Mr Supoj said Japan was highly experienced in high-speed railways and its bullet trains had never had an accident.
In China a lightning strike caused a power outage that brought to a halt a high-speed train on an elevated track in the city of Wenzhou. Then another high-speed train smashed into the stalled one from behind, killing at least 38 people.
Thai transport and engineering authorities said they did not think a similar accident could occur here due to the Kingdom's higher safety standards.
That's because Thailand's electric railways - all inner city services in Bangkok - had dual power supplies, Mr Supoj said. Those supplies ensure a continued flow of electricity to trains in case of a breakdown in power supplies.
He added that if a train did stop, traffic control would see the problem and deactivate other trains fast enough to prevent a collision. Also, the intervals between Bangkok's electric trains are long enough for authorities to prevent rear-end collisions.
Mr Supoj cited the 15-minute interval between express trains on the Airport Rail Link system that connects inner Bangkok to Suvarnabhumi airport.
Still, Thai authorities will study the collision in China to improve safety measures for Thai railways, he said.
Suchatvee Suwansawat, dean of the Faculty of Engineering of King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, said back-up power supplies in Thailand would make a similar collision unlikely, or even impossible. Besides, controllers of Bangkok's airport link, skytrain and subways would automatically cut power supplies to trains on a problematic track if a train stalled. He said that a failure of a safety-oriented power shutdown function might have been the reason for the collision in China.
Yuthana Thapcharoen, governor of the State Railway of Thailand, said that during a test run of the SRT's Airport Rail Link before it became fully operational, the power system had broken down and the link had automatically stopped all trains to prevent a collision.
"If the electricity system is really out of order, the SRT has a back-up plan," he said. "Its controllers can switch to manual mode or use a phone to communicate [before an accident occurs]."
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