The Thai Cabinet has approved the phase-2 of the China-Thailand High-Speed Railway (HSR), a flagship infrastructure project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and also the Southeast Asian country’s first standard-gauge HSR, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
The HSR’s phase-2, connecting NakhonRatchasima with NongKhai, is expected to be completed by 2030, the Xinhua report noted. Eventually, the railway will link the Thai capital of Bangkok with Kunming city, capital of Southwest China’s Yunnan Province, via the China-Laos Railway.
The phase-2 of the HSR will span 357 kilometers and cost approximately 341.35 billion baht ($9.56 billion) to construct, according to a report by Thai media outlet Nation Thailand. Construction could begin this year following the Thai Cabinet’s approval, with operations expected to commence in 2031, the Xinhua report said.
The project consists of two parts. The first involves constructing a railway to link with the first phase of the HSR, which stretches from Bangkok to NakhonRatchasima, with five railway stations planned along the way. The second partincludes setting up a freight transit center in NongKhai Province and provide a “one-stop” service for cross-border railway cargo transit, the Xinhua report said.
The first phase of China-Thailand HSR, a 253-kilometer-long rail line, was approved by the Thai government in July 2017. As of now, approximately 35.74 percent of the first phase has been completed, with full completion and operation expected by 2028.
Once the first phase becomes operational, it will reduce the travel time between Bangkok and NakhonRatchasimafrom more than 4 hours to just one hour, a spokesperson of the China State Construction Engineering (Thailand) Co, told the Global Times on Wednesday. The company has undertaken the construction of the key sections of the China-Thailand HSR.
“The landmark BRI project will inject new vitality into Thailand's economic and social development as well as regional connectivity,” the spokesperson said.
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