State Railway of Thailand

The State Railway of Thailand is the state-owned rail operator of Thailand. The network sees around 50 million passengers per annum.

History of The State Railway of Thailand

SRT was founded as the Royal State Railways of Siam (RSR) in 1890. Construction of the Bangkok-Ayutthaya railway (71 km), the first part of the Northern Line, was started in 1891 and completed on May 23, 1892. The Thonburi-Phetchaburi line (150 km), later the Southern Line, was opened on June 19, 1903.

The Northern Line was originally built as standard gauge, but in September 1919 it was decided to standardize on meter gauge and the Northern Line was regauged during the next ten years. On July 1, 1951, RSR changed its name to the present State Railway of Thailand.

In 2005 SRT had 4,070 km of track, all of it meter gauge. Nearly all is single-track, although some important sections around Bangkok are double or triple-tracked and there are plans to extend this.

Main Stations

Hua Lamphong or Krungthep Station is the main terminus of all routes and start in Bangkok, Phahonyothin and ICD Ladkrabang is the main freight terminal.

Northern Line

Bangsue Junction – The largest freight yard in Thailand and hence the main freight terminal. It is also a locomotive depot.
Ayutthaya Station – Northern Bangkok Suburb station – with very high passenger revenue, seconded only Bangkok station.
Ban Phachi Junction – A major junction, where the Northern and Northeastern lines separate.
Lop Buri Station – the end of Northern BKK Suburb line at Military town.
Nakhon Sawan Station – formerly called as Nong Pling station until 1956.
Phitsanulok Station – provincial station
Ban Dara Junction – Junction to Sawankhaloke line
Sila At Station – Depot on the Northern Line. Refueling station and up trains will be cut at this station
Denchai Station – the dropping point for Phrae with a proposal for a junction for Denchai – Chiang Rai route
Nakhon Lampang Station – Depot on the Northern Line. Train will be cut further if going North to Chiang Mai.
Chiang Mai Station – Terminus.

Northeastern Line

Saraburi Station – Provincial station, former name is Pak priaw station until 1934.
Kaeng Khoi Junction – The Bua Yai Line and Khlong Sip Kao line diverge from the mainline here. Main Depot with refueling facility. The point for cutting cargo trains into two trains to pass difficult section of Dong Phraya Yen (Kaeng Khoi – Pak Chong) or combining the separated cargo trains back to the single train
Pak Chong Station – The gateway to Nakhon Ratchasima and the point for cutting cargo trains into two trains to pass difficult section of Dong Phraya Yen (Kaeng Khoi – Pak Chong) or combining the separated cargo trains back to the single train
Nakhon Ratchasima Station – Main depot of the Northeastern Line with refueling facility and a branch line to 2nd Army Support Command.
Thanon Chira Junction – Junction for Nong Khai Route that closed to Fort Suranaree (2nd Army Region HQ)
Buri Ram Station – provincial station with a branch line for Quarry at Khao Kradong
Surin Station – provincial station
Si Sa Ket Station – provincial station
Ubon Ratchathani Station – Terminus of South Isaan Line (AKA Ubon Line) with Depot and refueling facility. Formerly called as “Varindr station” until 1942-1943.
Bua Yai Junction – junction with refueling facility
Khon Kaen Station – provincial station
Udon Thani Station – provincial station with refueling facility.
Nong Khai Station – Terminus of North Isaan Line (AKA Nong Khai Line), provides a connection to Laos

Eastern Line

On local trains, several cars may be reserved for schoolchildren transportation, much like a school bus elsewhere. Here, children boarding a Pattaya-Bangkok train at an improvised between-stations stop
Makkasan Station – the main depot of SRT (Makkasan Works) and future City Air Terminal Station for Suvarnabhumi Airport Express Train even though the New Makkasan Station is closer to Asok Halt than Makkasan station
Huamak Station – Bangkok Suburb station
Hua Ta Khe Station – Junction to ICD.
Chachoeng Sao Junction – Junction to Laem Chabang and Aranyapradesh Line.
Aranyapradesh Station – Terminus of North Eastern Line.
Si Racha Junction – Junction for Laem Chabang Deep Sea Port.
Mab Taphud Station – Terminus of East Coast Line – only for cargo trains.

Western Line

Thon Buri Station – Terminus of Western Line
Taling Chan Station – Junction of Bangsue – Taling Chan link (AKA Rama 6 Line), the connection between south and north SRT systems opened with the building of the only rail bridge across the Chao Phraya River in 1925.
Salaya Station – Bangkok Suburb station closed to Mahidol University (Salaya Campus)
Nakhon Pathom Station – Provincial station
Nong Pla Duk Junction – Junction for Suphanburi and Kanchanaburi.
Suphanburi Station – A 2 car DMU operates to Bangkok in the early morning and from Bangkok in the evening.
Kanchanaburi Station – Provincial station
Namtok Station – Terminus of Western Line.

Southern Line

Bang Sue Junction – Main junction and Cargo terminal with main Diesel Locomotive Depot and Refueling facility
Thon Buri Station – Former terminus of Southern Line.
Nakhon Pathom Station – main Southern suburb station
Hua Hin Station – station with Beautiful Architecture, changing crew station
Chumphon Station – Provincial station, Locomotive Depot with refueling facility
Ban Thung Pho Junction – Southern Container Yard and Khiri Ratthanikhom Branch.
Surat Thani Station – changing crew station and provincial station
Thung Song Junction – Locomotive Depot, refueling facility and junction for Kantang Branch.
Trang Station – Provincial Station
Kantang Station – Terminus of Kantang Branch.
Khao Chumthong Junction – Junction for Nakhon Si Thammarat Branch.
Nakhon Si Thammarat Station – Terminus of Nakhon Si Thammarat Branch.
Patthalung Station – Provincial station, changing crew station
Hat Yai Junction – Main junction in Southern Line, Locomotive Depot and refueling facility
Padang Besar Station – International station for connections to Malaysia. KTMB is the caretaker for this station since it is in Malaysia.
Pattani Station – former Khok Pho station – the dropping point for Pattani
Yala Station – Provincial station changing crew station
Tanyong Mas station – dropping point for Ra Nga district and Narathiwat
Sungai Kolok Station – Terminus of Southern Line. Used to be another International station until the termination of cross border services.

International services

SRT operates international services to Butterworth in Penang, Malaysia, in conjunction with Malaysian state operator KTM.

A link across the Friendship Bridge to Tha Na Laeng near Vientiane in Laos opened in March 2009.[1]

There are also plans to re-open rail links to Cambodia via Poipet from the railhead at Aranyaprathet. Railway connections to Myanmar (Burma), notably the infamous Death Railway, are now defunct.

Contact

State Railway of Thailand
1 Rongmuang Road, Rongmuang, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel : 0-2222-0175, 0-2621-8701, 0-2220-4567

-Thailand News (TN)