special report: The SRT expects next set of double-track routes will receive the cabinet green light this week, writes Om Jotikasthira

The only train in Chiang Rai at present is the unique Chiangrai Train Library, actually sitting on authentic sleepers and rails. Authorities are planning an actual rail link, to operate by 2023. (Creative Commons)

Aside from the surge of upcoming electric train projects in Bangkok, the government has also been boosting the construction of several provincial train routes across the country, many of which have previously been delayed.

Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith revealed during a visit to the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) last month that plans for two out of nine routes in the second phase of double-track rail development will be submitted to the cabinet by the end of this month.

They are double-track railway routes from Den Chai to Chiang Khong (in Chiang Rai, bordering Lao PDR) and Ban Phai (in Khon Kaen) to Nakhon Phanom.