Construction of high speed railway on Bangkok-Hua Hin route to be started in 2018

BANGKOK, February 28 (TNA) - The Thai Cabinet is expected to approve next week the construction plan of a new high speed railway on the Bangkok-Hua Hin route, along with other infrastructure development projects. Transport Minister Arkom Termpittayapaisith told journalists on February 27 that his ministry will seek the Thai Cabinet's approval, at its weekly meeting in Bangkok next week, for the construction of the Bangkok-Hua Hin high speed railway plan. Arkom said that the Bangkok-Hua Hin high speed railway construction plan has been initially approved by the government's Eastern Economic Corridor Policy Committee earlier. Besides, the Thai Cabinet will be reported on the progress of the construction plan of a southern dual railway project, phase 1, linking Bangkok's adjacent Nakhon Pathom Province with Hua Hin seaside area of Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, Hua Hin with inner Prachuap Khiri Khan areas and Prachuap Khiri Khan with nearby Chumphon Province. Arkom also revealed that the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), under his ministry, will open a bidding process for the construction of the phase 2 of the southern dual railway project, extending from Chumphon to Surat Thani Province, from Surat Thani to Songkhla Province and from Songkhla to Hat Yai business area in the same province. According to the minister, his ministry will also report to the Thai Cabinet on the progress of an air transport development plan at the Hua Hin Airport, or formerly named the Bo Fai Airport, in which international flights of low-cost Thai AirAsia on the Hua Hin-Kuala Lumpur route have already been operated. The minister noted that a strategy on infrastructure development projects in the lower part of the central region and a development plan of an alternative road along Gulf of Thailand coastal areas, covering Petchaburi Province, Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Chumphon, to facilitate public transport from Bangkok to the southern region in case that the main Petchakasem Highway is flooded or damaged by any inundation. In addition, the Thai Cabinet will be reported on the progress of repair and reconstruction plans of flood-damaged roads in four southern provinces, including those in Petchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon and Surat Thani. (TNA)