There are continuous steep curves in mountain areas to Chiang Mai. Several detour shaped line sections also exist in this area. Because of conditions of alignment, the train takes long time to pass.
When these detour shaped sections are made straight with a new line, the reductions of distance directly lead to time reduction in transport. And the replaced new lines with high speed train operation will also contribute to transport time reduction.
Although steep-curved line continues in the mountain area, the land structure is not much steep or complex. According to a previous study report, the construction of a short-circuit line seems to require a expense not so big.
(2) 200 km/h train operation on narrow gauge
(a) Evoluation of high speed technology development
Research and development on 200 km/h train operation on narrow-gauge is underway. Japan has emphasized the technological development of speed-up on narrow gauge since 10 years ago. Driving power, stable running, light-weight of car, body-tilting performance, etc. of the electric and diesel rail car trains for high speed operation have been examined by Japan. Tests on the testing stand are already done. And preparation is being made for running tests on the real line.
(b) Implementation method appropriate for the Northern Line
Steady utilization for the Northern line is expected while carefully observing the progress of development results in future. This can be realized by using the strengthened track and by putting results a number of additional measures to improve the track.
In flat land, there are some 50 curved line sections with a standard radius of 1,000 to 1,200 meters. These curved line sections will be replaced with larger radius curves. Because most of the 500 km line on flat land is straight, the portion of curved line length to be improved is just a several percentage.
