Chapter 4 Reduction of Transport Time on Northern Line
4.1 Expectation for time reduction
(1) Contribution to transport by time reduction
As already described, noticeable speedup is desired for the long-distance passenger cars of Northern Line of SRT as a railway for supporting the remarkable development of Thailand.
(a) Service by each transport mode between Bangkok and Chiang Mai
The daytime limited-express Sprinter of Northern Line requires 10 hrs. and 45 min. between Bangkok and Chiang Mai and provides only one roundtrip per day.
The transport by a high-way bus requires 9 hrs. in the same section and the transport frequency is as high as 40 times.
Moreover, the transport by an airplane requires approx. 1 hr. and 10 min. between the airports in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, the access distance is relatively short, and the transport provides approx. 10 roundtrips per day.
(b) Long-distance passenger service on Northern Line
The daytime limited-express has used a superior diesel car "Sprinter" since several years to realize time reduction, traveling at a schedule speed of 70 km/h and the maximum speed of 120 km/h. Though this is a high level as a meter-gauge railway, the time required is as described above and therefore, it is necessary to aim at more speedup.
While, another daytime rapid train requires 14 hrs. and 50 min. And, the services of the berth limited express of four roundtrips requiring 12 to 14 hrs. for the treatment. It is also desirable to increase the speed of the nighttime berth limited expresses. However, from the viewpoint of the time zone for utilization, the expectation for time reduction of the daytime limited expresses
