Thailand’s Aging trains contribute to poor service
Aging trains contribute to poor service
SRT unable to meet increasing demand
Old worn-out trains and locomotives are contributing to poor train services, says Siripong Pruetiphan, railway traffic manager of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT).
The SRT was not able to meet increasing passenger and business demand for services as many wheels, carriages and locomotives had been in heavy use for more than 20 years.
In some cases, spare parts to replace old ones had gone out of production.
Past governments had failed to allocate enough money to buy new trains and equipment, or maintain existing ones, said Mr Siripong.
A report released on March 31 showed the railways have 1,352 locomotive-pulled passenger trains and diesel-powered trains. Of these, 532 were old and damaged and were being repaired.
Mr Siripong said demand for passenger trains and freight train services had risen by more than 82%, but the SRT could not keep up due to a shortage of locomotives and train carriages.
The SRT could provide only 79% of demand for freight train services, 70% of locomotive-pulled and diesel-powered train services, and 61% of air-conditioned train services.
The SRT had 212 locomotives. Of these, only 130 to 140 were in service at any one time.
Mr Siripong said 10 to 15% of each train type must be kept in reserve. But many trains damaged in accidents were under repair, forcing the SRT to cut the number of daily services it offered.
Because of train shortages, trains which had reached the final destination on one route often had to start services on other routes without a break, he said. This affected train maintenance schedules.
He said some trains were worn-out and took a long time to repair.
Some damaged engines were old and spare parts hard to find.
Mr Siripong said demand for freight trains for carrying goods and petroleum had risen dramatically, but the SRT did not have enough locomotives and wheeled containers for carrying goods.
He said buying new trains took a long time and private companies often failed to deliver spare parts on time. Spare parts of some old train models had also gone out of production.
Some producers of spare parts would only resume production if the SRT agreed to buy them in large numbers.
Mr Siripong said better upkeep of rail lines and replacement of worn-out sleepers would boost efficiency. In 2006-2007, 24% of tracks across the country were in excellent condition, 38.6% in good condition, and 28.5% in moderately good condition.
Arak Ratboriharn, chief of the SRT’s treasury division, said it had lost about 200 to 300 million baht in potential revenue from being unable to meet rising demand for freight services.
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Killer crossings plague railways
Besides running in the red, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) is troubled by accident-prone level crossings along its thousands of kilometres of track nationwide.
The number of crossings illegally built by local people is also on the rise, but the SRT can do nothing to stop this kind of encroachment, said Siripong Pruetiphan, a railway traffic manager.
According to SRT figures, in 2006, there were 185 accidents involving trains and other vehicles at railway crossings, resulting in 53 deaths and 190 people being injured.
Last year, there were 327 accidents in which 45 people were killed and 143 injured.
During the first two months of this year, 72 accidents were reported between trains and other types of vehicles.
The figures exclude accidents involving other trains or animals and motor vehicles that crash into barriers at railway crossings.
In January and February this year, trains hit animals 91 times and road vehicles hit crossing barriers 101 times, while people threw dangerous objects, stones for instance, at the train 78 times.
Those incidents have led to huge losses for the SRT, both in terms of staff lives and financial damage, said Mr Siripong.
Mr Siripong said that countrywide there are 2,443 crossings, of which 1,908 were built with SRT permission and 535 by local administrations in remote areas for their own convenience.
Railway lines with too many crossings make journeys longer because train drivers must slow down every time they approach a crossing.
Because of the huge load, it takes a slow train quite a while to regain speed.
This also uses a lot of fuel, leading to higher running costs.
Mr Siripong said the number of crossings set up without permission keep increasing each year.
The SRT cannot control their number because the tracks are in an open environment. When the SRT tries to close a crossing the barricades are quickly removed by local people.
”Local people don’t want to go an extra mile to make a U-turn at an official crossing,” said Mr Siripong. ”People care more about convenience than safety.
”And many who die in train-related crashes at railway crossings are not from that neighbourhood.” Most accidents at railway crossings happen in rural areas.
In many cases, the vehicle drivers involved in the accidents have ignored warning signals or railway staff.
Bus travellers told to speak up if worried
Sitting in silence key factor in accidents
Bus passengers’ failure to speak up when they see potential risks or signs of danger is a key factor behind road accidents, researchers say.
Survivors of bus crashes often said they noticed signs of engine troubles or something unusual in the way their drivers were acting behind the wheel before the accidents happened.
However, most chose to worry in silence rather than alert the drivers or fellow passengers.
“We get used to failing to exercise our rights and accepting the situation despite knowing that the bus is heading into trouble.
“In fact, we have the right to tell the driver to stop, to get off or to demand a different bus. But that has never been the case,” said Ittaboon Onwongsa of the Foundation for Consumers, which recently conducted interviews with survivors of bus accidents.
According to the Prince of Songkla University’s Accident Research Centre, there are more than 4,000 road accidents involving passenger buses each year. And two out of three occur in Bangkok and neighbouring provinces.
Bus accidents cause damage of up to eight billion baht per year, the centre estimated.
Besides the tight-lipped passengers, the bus drivers and their vehicles are also to blame.
A study by the National Health Foundation of 600 bus drivers found only 7% of them went through a driving school. About 48% said they were self-taught.
While they must bear the responsibility for passengers’ safety, bus drivers are not well paid - earning an average of only 5,000-6,000 baht a month.
Nattagan Wainet, a researcher at the Bureau of Epidemiology, said one driver interviewed said he had been driving for 25 hours with less than two hours rest during the New Year holiday before the bus crashed in Kanchanaburi, killing 13 passengers and injuring several others.
“This is normal for the long New Year and Songkran holidays, when more trips are added to meet higher demand, while the numbers of buses and drivers remain the same,” she said.
In its latest attempt to boost public safety, the Land Transport Department has ordered all passenger buses to undergo engine checks twice a year, instead of once a year as in the past.
However, an operator of Northeast-bound buses said the chassis of most inter-provincial buses now in operation are already over 30 years old, although their engines have been overhauled to meet the department’s standards.
He likened an ageing chassis to a ticking time bomb.
Research by the Thailand Accidental Research Centre called into question the safety of double-tier buses.
“A double-tier bus is designed for short-haul travel in a city at slow speed. But the buses are usually used for a long rides at high speed in Thailand.
“In many cases, the buses overturn on a downhill curve, even at slow speeds,” said researcher Sattrawut Polboon.
He added that top-deck seats are not securely fastened and could easily break free when the bus overturns.
The Highways Department recently identified 784 dangerous intersections, curves and U-turns. More than 500 accidents have occurred at some of these spots.
The victims of bus accidents do get some compensation.
In the tragic case of an inter-provincial bus that caught fire and crashed in Saraburi province on March 30 last year, killing 32 passengers and injuring about 30 others, an insurance firm paid 400,000 baht per death to relatives, and 100,000 baht to each of the injured.
One family, however, decided not to accept the compensation and demanded a larger sum on grounds that the victim was the family’s breadwinner. Their case is still in court.
Public health permanent secretary Prat Boonyawongvirote said most of Songkran road accidents were caused by drunk driving.
He advised motorists to have enough rest and refrain from drinking alcohol at least one day before making a road trip.
Thailand’s Railways set to go partially private
SRT cites chronic losses, huge debts and declining patronage
The State Railway of Thailand is set to be partially privatised if Cabinet approves a multi-billion-baht double rail track investment scheme tomorrow, Transport Ministry sources said.
The proposal to build double rail tracks on five routes with a combined length of 2,644 km means the government is preparing to transfer the essential part of the country’s logistics network to the private sector, said a senior official, who requested anonymity.
“The move follows SRT’s chronic losses, making it not possible for the state unit to develop its network for modern logistics, even though rail transport per unit is much cheaper than road transport,” he said.
The investment cost for more than 2,600km of double rail tracks will cost an estimated Bt367 billion.
Under the proposal set for tomorrow’s Cabinet approval, SRT will grant long term concessions to private companies to build and operate the routes, but ownership of the infrastructure will be transferred to SRT when concessions expire.
Transport Minister Santi Prompat said Thailand’s rail network would be expanded to link with those of Asean countries and southern China.
The proposal will also generate income for the SRT so that it can use the proceeds to cover losses.
Private investors will help improve railroad efficiency which is necessary if the cost of logistics is to be competitive.
At present, SRT cannot meet the rising demand for multi-mode transport services due to a shortage of rail carriages.
In addition, service quality is not competitive, as evidenced by frequent shipment delays and damage to goods.
A source in the logistics industry said Chinese firms could benefit as they have large oil and fertiliser shipments for Asean markets.
Besides the decline of passenger traffic, down about 2 per cent annually from 56 million in 2001 to just 52 million in 2006, SRT has also suffered from a high number of accidents, averaging 500 a year.
SRT is also shouldering a huge debt of Bt51.2 billion, costing Bt1.85 billion in annual interest payments. It also has a combined pension liability of Bt160 billion.
In 2006, the state enterprise booked a net loss of Bt6.57 billion. It is expected to post net losses of more than Bt10 billion over the next three years.
SRT currently has a total of 4,000km of track, of which 93 per cent are single track, 4 per cent double tracks and 3 per cent triple tracks.