Somkid to sign rail deal with Japan
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak will next week sign a rail development agreement with Japan, stepping up cooperation in eight megaprojects, including the Bangkok-Chiang Mai high-speed railway line.
The draft agreement, approved by the cabinet on Tuesday, will be finalised at a signing ceremony in Japan where an entourage led by Mr Somkid will discuss the eight projects with Japanese authorities from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said.
The deputy prime minister will visit Japan on June 4-6 to join a meeting on various topics from ongoing studies on rail development, advice on commercial development near rail tracks and a transport hub, as well the possibility of new high-speed rail projects.
Among the highlights of the eight projects is a 635km high-speed rail development from the capital to Chiang Mai. Its study is under way, Mr Arkhom said, with the findings and feasibility report likely to be finished this year.
Officials have agreed to adopt the shinkansen (Japanese high-speed train) technology for its construction which will be divided into two parts — Bangkok-Phitsanulok and Phitsanulok-Chiang Mai, he said. Also among the eight projects are two new high-speed railway projects, one being a transnational route linking Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.
The other is a Bangkok-Rayong highspeed rail line. The government is particularly interested in this project as it is a key infrastructure project to support the government’s much touted Eastern Economic Corridor, a new economic area for 10 modern industries including smart electronics and next-generation cars.
Another four projects are being jointly studied or financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica). They include a project to develop commercial areas near a rail route from Kanchanburi’s Ban Pu Nam Ron to the Aranyaprathet border checkpoint, a rail system for goods transport, and construction of a section of rail route linking Nakhon Sawan and Khon Kaen’s Ban Phai district under the East West Economic Corridor Project.