SRT unable to meet increasing demand

admin · SRT unable to meet increasing demand

TROUBLED TRAINS
Ageing trains contribute to poor service
SRT unable to meet increasing demand
AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK

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.