A high-speed train project linking southern China, Laos and Thailand
could start in 2015 in time for the launch of the Asean Economic Community.
Chamaiporn Chuecharoen, the
commercial counsellor for Thailand in Kunming, China, said the project
envisions a train capable of speeds of 200 kilometres per hour running from
Yunnan province to Laos and Nong Khai in northeastern Thailand.
Passengers and cargo from Nong
Khai could then travel to Bangkok and Rayong as well as south to Malaysia and
Singapore.
Other high-speed rail links are
planned from China to Myanmar and Cambodia.
Work on the US$7-billion
China-Laos route is expected to begin shortly.
The project will be financed by
the Export-Import Bank of China under a 30-year loan, with China responsible
for construction.
The plan estimates revenue in the
first year of operations starting at $95 million, eventually reaching as much
as $16.3 billion a year in 50 years.
Plans to build a train link from
Kunming to Singapore were initiated by Chinese and Asean leaders at the seventh
Asean summit in 2001. Construction on the project, ultimately covering 3,900
km, began last year with the China-Vientiane link, with the entire line
expected to be fully complete in 2020.
Work on the Kunming-Yangon line
and a larger project connecting Kunming with Vientiane, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur
and Singapore is expected to start later this year.
Chinese authorities also are
considering a separate high-speed route that would join Kunming and Bangkok
with Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh.
Ms Chamaiporn said the link
between China, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar would have tremendous economic
benefits for Southeast Asia and the Greater Mekong region.
Planning for high-speed rail
lines in Thailand is already under way, with funding to come from a proposed
2-trillion-baht investment programme dedicated to new infrastructure projects
over the next seven years.
Finance Minister Kittiratt
Na-Ranong said the government is planning four high-speed rail lines to support
trade and tourism within the country.
The investment programme, now
being drafted for parliamentary review, would focus on transport infrastructure
including new railways, roads, airports and port improvements, he said.
The four high-speed rail lines
are Bangkok-Nong Khai-Vientiane; Bangkok-Ayutthaya-Chiang Mai; Bangkok to Hua
Hin; and an expansion of the Airport Rail Link in Bangkok to Chon Buri, Pattaya
and Rayong.
Mr Kittiratt said the
Bangkok-Chiang Mai link should begin with the Bangkok-Ayutthaya leg due to
Ayutthaya's importance as a tourism destination and a government proposal to
push the former capital as a host of the World Expo.
The line from Bangkok to the
Eastern Seaboard would include a standard-gauge rail link from Suvarnabhumi
airport to Don Mueang airport, he said.
Existing rail networks in the
South will be expanded to link Hat Yai and Yala with Malaysia.
Mr Kittiratt said the
infrastructure bill would see investment averaging 300 billion baht a year over
the next seven years, while each project must be justifiable in terms of its
economic benefits to the country.
"Even after parliament
approves the 2-trillion-baht bill, it doesn't mean there will be a blank
cheque. Each project must pass scrutiny by the National Economic and Social
Development Board," he said.
Phusadee Arunmas & Wichit
Chantanusornsiri
Business & Investment Opportunities
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