The Thai section of the track will traverse 10 of the countries provinces and be 845kms long. It is set to be built as standard 1,435-millimetre gauge track instead of the one-metre wide tracks that currently make up Thailand’s railway network.
Deputy PM Jantong stated at the ceremony held the previous Saturday that the project could mark the start of a fruitful collaboration on transportation between the two nations. The setting for the inauguration rite was Chiang Rak Noi Station.
This Ayutthaya station will be the operational heart of the project. The Thailand section of the line is part of a route that will eventually link the southwest Chinese city of Kunming to Singapore.
The plan is to build the tracks so that they can handle 180kph trains. Thailand is set to provide civil engineering, plant equipment and a percentage of the building material while China will supply the engineering and construction expertise.
China Thailand hold ceremony for launch of rail link
News in Asia
Thailand and China have held a ceremony to mark the official start of a railway line that will connect the two countries. Prajin Jantong, the Thai deputy-prime-minister was joined by Chinese state-councillor Wang Yong and other dignitaries at the foundation-laying ceremony held at a rail station in Thailand’s central provinces.