Railway Bangkok – Samut Prakan

Bangkok – Samut Prakan
Route length:	21 km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Legend 0.0 Bangkok Hua Lamphong station forecourt Saphan Sawang Saphan Lueang Sam Yan Sathan Saowapha Sala Daeng Sathon Witthayu Sidings from the Ostbahn Talat Khlong Toei Khlong Toei Ban Kluai Kluai Nam Thai Khlong Prawet Burirom Phra Khanong Khlong Suan Oi Phra Khanong Witthayalai Bang Chak Bang Chak Oil Refinery Bang Na Samrong Khlong Samrong Sisa Chorakhe Bang Nang Kreng Rongrian Chumphon Thahan Ruea Mahawong Tributary of the Khlong Samrong Sala sound 21.3 Paknam (Samut Prakan)

The Bangkok – Samut Prakan railway was the first railway line to go into operation in Thailand . It was opened on April 11, 1893 and closed on January 1, 1960.

history

In the 1880s, the Siamese government granted various private consortia concessions to build railways. The majority of these consortia turned out to be speculative companies that never even got as far as the start of construction of the route they were licensed to use. Ultimately, however, the first operational railway in Thailand from Bangkok to Samut Prakan (Paknam) emerged from such a "privately" financed initiative. However, this only succeeded after a few difficulties: first, on September 13, 1886, the government granted a company the concession for 50 years, Alfred John Loftus (1836–1899), a British colonial official, and the Danish naval officer Andreas du Plessis de Richelieu ( Phraya Chonlayutthayothin / Thai พระยา ชล ยุทธ โยธิน ท ร์ ) (* February 24, 1852 - † March 25, 1932), later commander in chief of the Thai naval forces, had founded. This company also had difficulties in raising sufficient capital to start building the line. On November 3, 1888, the editor of the Bangkok Times pleaded that the state should build the railway line . Nothing else happened, but the state renewed the concession in 1889 - again nothing happened, and there was still a lack of sufficient funds. In order to move the matter forward, King Chulalongkorn the Great (Rama V) himself contributed half of the required capital in 1891 . That led to the start of construction very quickly. The king himself broke ground on July 16, 1891. The line was built on a single track in meter gauge. The king insisted on opening it personally on April 11, 1893.

Back then, the journey time was less than an hour. The route mainly served a lively passenger traffic , while the freight traffic remained low: For freight, the effort of reloading from ship to rail was hardly worth it in comparison to the time saved by transport on the river. In 1926 the line was electrified . When the concession expired in 1936, the state took over the route for a compensation payment of 350,000 baht and incorporated it into the Royal State Railways (RST). On January 1, 1960, operations ceased, and the structures were completely removed over the years. One of the original steam locomotives , later sold to Wang Kaphi's sugar refinery , is said to have been preserved there.

Route

The railway line began in Bangkok at Hua Lamphong Square , today's station forecourt of Bangkok Central Station. From there it ran east and continued in a wide arc to the south. In doing so, she circumnavigated some sweeping river loops of the Chao Phraya on its east bank and its mouth in the Gulf of Thailand, and ended in Samut Prakan.

literature

• BR Whyte: The Railway Atlas of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia . White Lotus Co Ltd, Bangkok 2010, ISBN 978-974-480-157-9

Remarks

1. ↑ The stations listed were not all in operation at the same time. All known over the entire time the route was in operation are listed.
2. ↑ On the river, the journey from the mouth to Bangkok took a whole day because of the numerous loops in which it flows here. The journey on the road over the same connection now usually takes 100 minutes, i.e. about twice the travel time of the train at the end of the 19th century! (Whyte: Railway Atlas , p. 10.)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ On his person see: NN: Andreas du Plessis de Richelieu: The Admiral Who Went Ashore .
2. ^ Whyte: Railway Atlas , p. 7.
3. ↑ Whyte: Railway Atlas , p. 8f, reproduces the report in the Bangkok Times , p. 2f, of the same day.
4. ↑ Whyte: Railway Atlas , p. 9, reproduces the report in the Bangkok Times , p. 2, of the following day.
5. ^ Whyte: Railway Atlas , p. 10.