Replacing 3rd Class Train Fans with Air Conditioning Source - Daily News, Monday, July 08, 2024 05:02
Bidding for the first lot of 130 carriages, cooler but 8 baht/km more expensive
Mr. Surapong Piyachot, Deputy Minister of Transport, revealed that the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) is preparing to hire contractors to upgrade 130 3rd class train carriages from fan-cooled to air-conditioned, at an average cost of about 6 million baht per carriage, totaling approximately 780 million baht. This aims to improve service quality and provide better access to services for the public. The project is divided into 2 phases:
Phase 1: Starting in 2024, 40 carriages will be upgraded with a budget of 240 million baht, to be completed and ready for service in 2025.
Phase 2: In 2025, 90 carriages will be upgraded with a budget of 540 million baht, to be completed in 2026.
After that, the remaining carriages will be gradually upgraded until all are complete. Currently, SRT has about 300-400 3rd class carriages.
Mr. Surapong further stated that there are two types of passenger train services, totaling 35 million seats:
1. Commercial trains: About 9 million seats, with passenger demand exceeding capacity, not including many advance bookings, totaling about 18 million seats in demand.
2. Social trains: About 26 million seats available, but only about 18.6 million seats occupied, not yet at full capacity.
SRT is therefore converting some social train carriages to commercial ones. The first lot of 130 upgraded carriages will provide an additional 3.2 million seats, bringing the total to 12.2 million seats.
Mr. Surapong acknowledged that some passengers who used to ride fan-cooled trains at very low fares might have to pay more (fan-cooled trains start at 2 baht, air-conditioned trains start at 20 baht, calculated by distance). This especially affects vulnerable groups. SRT and the government will need to find additional ways to support these passengers beyond the existing state welfare card benefits, to increase access to air-conditioned train services for all passenger groups.
He emphasized to SRT that the carriage upgrades must not affect public services, and sufficient train services must be allocated.
Source: Daily News, July 9, 2024 edition (afternoon frame)
SRT upgrades first batch of 130 3rd class train carriages with air conditioning, converting to commercial trains at 6 million baht per carriage
Source - Manager Daily 360°, Monday, July 08, 2024 04:52
Manager Daily 360° - The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) is pushing forward with upgrading the first batch of 130 3rd class train carriages with air conditioning to improve services. This year, they will pilot 40 carriages, with another 90 carriages in 2025, at an average budget of 6 million baht per carriage. "Surapong" reveals that demand for commercial trains exceeds capacity, necessitating expansion. He insists that non-air-conditioned trains must be phased out, while assuring that the government will support vulnerable groups to use the service as usual through welfare cards.
Mr. Surapong Piyachot, Deputy Minister of Transport, disclosed plans to upgrade train services, saying that SRT is preparing to upgrade 3rd class train services. The concept is to convert all 3rd class carriages to air-conditioned ones and improve seat comfort. Currently, train services are divided into social service trains, with about 300-400 carriages capable of serving 26 million seats/year, but only 18.6 million passengers use them annually. Commercial service trains can only provide 9 million seats per year, which are fully occupied with an additional demand of about 9 million seats. This data shows that there is still a large number of people waiting to use commercial train services, but SRT doesn't have enough trains to meet the demand.
The current policy instructs SRT to upgrade all 3rd class trains to air-conditioned ones gradually. The increased fares will follow commercial service regulations, with the government supporting vulnerable groups to use the service as usual through welfare cards, while the public receives better service.
"In the past, we never worked analytically, but this time we conducted surveys and analyzed the numbers, revealing that there's a demand for about 9 million more commercial train seats per year. Therefore, our goal is to increase commercial train services to accommodate an additional 9 million seats to meet current travel demands. The ultimate goal is for Thai trains to no longer have non-air-conditioned carriages," said Mr. Surapong.
Mr. Aviruth Thongnet, Deputy Governor of SRT, said that SRT has set a plan to upgrade 3rd class (fan-cooled) passenger carriages and has already begun implementation. They are in the procurement process to upgrade about 40 carriages using the 2024 budget, and in 2025, they will gradually upgrade about 90 more carriages, totaling about 130 carriages in the first batch. This process requires removing carriages from service for upgrades without affecting public services. If they can upgrade these 130 3rd class carriages to commercial trains, it will add about 3.2 million seats per year. The average cost for upgrading seats and installing air conditioning systems is about 6 million baht per carriage.
Source: Manager Daily 360° newspaper, July 8, 2024 edition
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