When completed, the Thai part of the project will be connected with the Lao high-speed railway project on the other side of the border and further extended to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. On the Thai side, the cross-border railway link will originate in Na Tha station and then cross over the new railway Thai-Lao Friendship bridge.
The total length of Bangkok-Nong Khai line will be 608 km. During the first phase a 253-km section from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima, in Isan, will be built. The remaining 355-km stretch will link Nakhon Ratchasima and Nong Khai. It is expected that the project will become fully operational in 2023. It will cut travel time for train travellers between Bangkok and Laos from the current 11 hours to mere three hours. Trains serving the route will run at 250 kmph.
The project is being carried out in partnership with China. Thailand takes the burden of financing of civil work as well as design works during the second stage of the project while China will install the operating system.
Deadline for Sino-Thai Rail Project Set
News in Asia
The high-speed railway project between Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, and Nong Khai, a city at the border with Laos in the northeastern part of the country, should be completed by 2023.