SRT governor meets his Laotian counterpart to step up cooperation
The two railway execs agree on 14 daily trips between the two countries
The state railways chiefs of Thailand and Laos held a meeting on Friday and pledged to step up cooperation to improve railway services linking the two neighbouring countries.
Veeris Ammarapala, governor of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), said on Saturday that he had met Lao National Railways managing director Daochinda Siharath in Bangkok on Friday to follow up on the memorandum on technical cooperation between the two state railway authorities.
The memorandum was signed on October 8 for the two agencies to expand rail transport capacity between Thailand and Laos.
Veeris said the two agencies agreed to step up cooperation so that there would be up to 14 train trips back and forth between the two countries per day to cope with rising demand for train transport.
The two sides also agreed to increase the number of train trips in the future, Veeris added.
He said the SRT also planned to add a sleeper carriage to the rapid train No. 133/134 from Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal Station to Vientiane station and back. Veeris said the rapid train had so far transported over 13,000 passengers after the service started.
Veeris said the SRT would also donate some decommissioned carriages to Laos for repair and use for goods transport between the Na Laeng station and Nong Khai stations.
