The State railway has hired the Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC) to conduct a feasibility study – to be completed in eight months – for tourism routes and designs for tourism trains, reported The Bangkok Post.
The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has announced plans to conduct a feasibility study for luxury tourism train services modelled after Japan’s JR Kyushu Railway's Seven Stars luxury sleeper trains, with services expected to launch next year.
The State railway has hired the Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC) to conduct a feasibility study – to be completed in eight months – for tourism routes and designs for tourism trains, reported The Bangkok Post.
The train services are part of the country’s plans to grow tourism in the second-tier provinces and community-based tourism.
"The SRT is constructing many double-track rail routes, which will completely change railroad transport," Tanongsak said.
The SRT expects to introduce its luxury cruise trains on the Sukhothai, Phitsanulok and Ayutthaya routes, said Tanongsak Pongprasert, deputy governor for the traffic business cluster at the SRT.
Presently, trains ply two popular tourist routes – Hua Lamphong to Kanchanaburi and Hua Lamphong to Hua Hin – on Saturdays and Sundays. The SRT plans to add a new route from Hua Lamphong to Pattaya, Pongprasert said.
The TCDC is also studying suitable routes for SRT’s cruise trains, including one-day and two- to three-day trips, mainly to historical places and well-known tourism spots.
Hiroyuki Fukunaga, director-general of the cruise train headquarters of Kyushu Railway Co, said that while real estate is the main revenue contributor to the company, cruise train services still generate strong income.
Fukunaga said the company also supports local communities in maintaining their traditional housing and environments along the cruise train routes.
Seven Stars made its inaugural run in October 2013 and is Japan’s first luxury sleeper train.