State Railway of Thailand’s renovation project for accessibility

In the direction of the inclusiveness factor, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has not only decided to renovate their 10 passenger carriages but also make these upgrades inclusive for everyone.

The intention is to help carriages comply with regulations for the disabled as well as facilitate travel for the disabled by the main railway line, as Mr. Aekkarat Sriarayanpong as head of the SRT governor’s office recently declared.

The carriages that are about to undergo a renovation are second-class vehicles being put into service in 2012. The SRT will have refurbished 2% of its fleet by end-month which will be operationally available. Hence, after completion of the first carriages scheduled for April, the rest of the way is to follow, with three more coming in May and the last two in October.

Enhancing Passenger Safety and Accessibility

It is the main purpose of the reconstruction to offer greater security for dissembled passengers as well as ease of access for them. The changes will allow committing the water-locking system, ladder with an enclosed design, and also scaffolding with an escalator. These progresses are done to enhanced a user’s well being especially for the under privileged.

To this investment, the SRT is as well running 115 disabled-friendly passenger cars that belong to CNRH which are currently running Special Express Train deployments.

The trains that run daily for the said train routes, all have different destinations trips as was published in the Bangkok Post by media.

“SRT introduces game-changing service: Book CNR express routes 90 days in advance for a hassle-free Songkran journey.”

Upon the end of the near renovation, the SRT is aiming to repair 16 more second-class carriages in the next year for which the SRT governor, Mr. Nirut Maneepan recently published the declaration.

The SRT’s plan to carry on with being inclusive in general is truly an advantageous move that the public transport sector should adopt as well. Meanwhile, in the same note, SRT announced 3 double-track railroad line construction project covering a distance of 634 km.

The project which worth 113.14 billion baht in total for private sector and state enterprises is to be submitted to the ministry at the end of this month after being already approved by the governing board of SRT.