The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) plans to spend 90 billion baht (3 million USD) to upgrade the existing single-track railways leading to the deep south to double tracks to cut down travel time for passengers and promote tourism to the region, according to local media.
Bangkok (VNA) - The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) plans to spend 90 billionbaht (3 million USD) to upgrade the existing single-track railways leading tothe deep south to double tracks to cut down travel time for passengers andpromote tourism to the region, according to local media.
The project will be integrated with the SRT'songoing double-track upgrades in Chumphon, which will benefit rail passengersheading to the southern provinces of Surat Thani, Songkhla, as well as theMalaysian border town of Padang Besar,
SRT Acting Governor Worawut Malacho said oncethe upgrades are completed, travel time to resort cities along the southerncoast will be significantly reduced, which is expected to increase the numberof rail passengers.
The SRT will allocate nearly 800million USD to the second stage of the southern railway route, which will builda double-track line between Chumphon and SuratThani, nearly 1.9 billion USD to upgrade the existing single-track line betweenSurat Thani and Songkhla, and more than 260 million USD to upgrade the trackbetween Thailand’s Hat Yai city and Padang Besar town in Malaysia.
Statistics from the SRT show that 90 percent of passengers taking the train from Bangkokto Chumphon are foreign tourists.-VNA
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Illustrative image (Source: Internet) 
