Time running out for 16 heritage stations

The Fine Arts Department should step in and safeguard 16 old but picturesque railway stations on the Nakhon Ratchasima to Khon Kaen route that are set to be bulldozed this month as part of the government’s double-track development project, according to a leading local conservationist.

The stations, which are all over 50 years old, are considered part of the nation’s heritage and should be preserved, said Parinya Chukaew, who teaches architecture at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Ladkrabang.

About 200 of the 443 stations nationwide are worth preserving but most of these are at risk, said the scholar, who has been campaigning to save old railways stations for the past two years.

Due to his efforts and those of local scholars in Khon Kaen, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has agreed to preserve the main station in the northeastern province by relocating it elsewhere, instead of reducing it to rubble.

Satellite stations on the 187km route are still slated for destruction, however.

Mr Parinya said he has also asked scholars in Nakhon Ratchasima to join his conservation effort.

But the Fine Arts Department, as a state agency responsible for safeguarding national heritage, must do more and look into how it can preserve the doomed stations, he said.

They can be saved without negatively affecting the double-track development project, he added.

Earlier, he called for the SRT to change the contracts being drawn up so contractors are required to preserve the ageing but still valuable infrastructure.

SRT deputy governor Prasert Attanandana said the SRT has acknowledged the calls.

However, he said such requests should have been made before the new project was fully designed, with a special budget reserved for the old stations.

The design work has now been completed, with no extra budget approved.

However, the SRT board would consider the conservationists’ requests before seeking more money from the government, Mr Prasert said.

SRT acting governor Anon Lueagboribun said including the conservation issue in the terms of reference for railway projects would be impractical at this stage, as the design would have to be revamped.

However, the SRT may be able to save a few stations, he said.