Bangkok's Airport Rail Link to be combined with EEC-bound high speed train system

BANGKOK, February 27 (TNA) - The Airport Rail Link, an electric train system in Bangkok, will be combined with a new high speed train system under the government-supported Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) Project in the coming years. Kanit Sangsubhan, Secretary General of EEC Office of Thailand, told journalists of the policy after the latest meeting of the EEC Board in Bangkok on February 26, saying that a winning private developer is required to acquire the Airport Rail Link Project at an agreed price considered appropriate despite a total loss of about 34.79 billion baht of the Airport Rail Link Project. Kanit noted that the the existing main Makkasan Station of the Airport Rail Link, located on an about 0.24-square kilometer-plot of land, will be then developed to become a main station of the new EEC-bound high speed train system, including a large car park and a networking link with the Blue Line underground train system in the capital. Kanit revealed that as the private sector will be invited to develop a large part of the high speed train system, a distance of 220 kilometers linking Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport with the U-Tapao International Airport, the winning private developer will be also required to pay a rental for the utilization of the 0.24-square kilometer-Makkasan Station to the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) based on the market price and to be obliged to a revenue sharing system with the Thai government. Kanit stated that the EEC-bound high speed train will stop at all stations of the existing Airport Rail Link Project with more frequent trips and less waiting times from 15 minutes to 10 minutes each, dividing into the Express Line connecting Thailand's three main international airports together, including the Suvarnabhumi Airport, the Don Mueang Airport and the U-Tapao Airport, and the City Line linking outskirts and inner areas in Bangkok together. Besides, the Sriracha Station in the eastern seaside Chon Buri Province, located on an about 0.16-square kilometer plot of land, will comprise three sections, including a high speed train station, a garage and a train parking bay, with a winning private developer required to observe similar conditions with the winning developer of the Makkasan Station. According to the EEC Office secretary-general, the EEC-bound high speed train system, set to be launched for full public services in the coming years, should boost confidence in Thailand among international investors who should be then happy to participate in the project despite some impacts of the country's planned new general election. (TNA)