
The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) will procure 184 air-conditioned diesel railcars plus spare parts, with a budget of 24.1 billion baht to replace ageing cars that have been in use for 30 years.
“The new railcars will replace the current 10 long-distance passenger trains and support route expansion on double-track rail services,” SRT governor Veeris Ammarapala said on Thursday.
The SRT wants to increase its potential to compete with other forms of transport to attract more passengers, citing advantages in reducing fuel consumption, traffic congestion and impact on the environment.
About 30.3 million passengers used SRT services in 2024, up from 27.8 million in 2023.
The rail operator will procure 92 air-conditioned diesel railcars with a driver’s cabin for half of the budget and will spend the other half for 92 cars without the cabin.
Mr Veeris said the new cars would be able to use two sources of energy: diesel engines and electric power from batteries.
Each car will have a space specifically for the disabled and be equipped with WiFi on board, reclining seats, hygienic closed-system toilets, and LED screens. The average cost is 131.25 million baht per car.
The first batch of 60 cars will be shipped to Thailand in 2027.
“We will submit our report to the Ministry of Transport for consideration and further submission to the cabinet,” he said. ”If the cabinet approves the project, the SRT will issue an invitation to bid for interested parties and the selection results should be considered by July 2026.”
The SRT expects that all of the new railcars will be in service by April 2030.
New Mekong bridge
In a related development, the SRT is accelerating design work on a four-track Mekong River Railway Bridge to support trains and high-speed trains between Thailand and Laos.
An SRT source said the new bridge, part of the Nong Khai-Vientiane railway link project, is still at the project research stage, which includes design details and an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report.
The SRT expects the study to be completed by September. Initially, two new bridges will be built and the current one renovated to be used for cars only.
A new railway bridge will be built about 30 metres south of the present one. It will be a four-track railway bridge, with two tracks for 1-metre gauge trains and another two for 1.435m standard high-speed trains, said the source.
The construction period is about 36 months, starting in 2026. It will open for service in 2029.
The second phase of the project involves building a new car bridge on the north side of the current bridge to add two more lanes to the present bridge crossing the Mekong River.
The construction period is 30 months, starting around 2041. It will be completed and opened for service in 2044, said the source.