PUBLISHED : 29 Jul 2024 at 13:16
The State Railway of Thailand closed the country’s longest train tunnel just after opening on Sunday pending 14-day clean-up after passengers suffered from thick dust inside it.
Ekarat Sri-arayanpong, chief of the SRT governor’s office, said that northeast-bound passengers complained about thick dust when their train passed the Pha Sadet tunnel in Saraburi province, so the SRT ordered its contractor to clean the tunnel in 14 days.
The new 5.4-kilometre-long tunnel which is a part of the SRT’s new double-track railway to the Northeast was opened on Sunday. The SRT planned to reopen it on Aug 12.
Mr Ekarat said that before the opening, the contractor blew the tunnel to clean dust but winds later blew dust back into the tunnel.
During the temporary closure, northeastern trains use their old route from Map Krabao station through Pha Sadet and Hin Lap stations to Muak Lek station. The old section is 18 kilometres long and a train takes 32 minutes to pass it.
Through the tunnel, the new route between Map Krabao and Muak Lek is 14km long and takes 15 minutes for a train to pass.