ชมรมจักรยานเพื่อสุขภาพแห่งประเทศไทย ชมรมจักรยานเพื่อสุขภาพแห่งประเทศไทย
TCC gave bicycle users’ voices in a hearing on the Bangkok – Hua Hin High Speed Rail Project
Office of Transport Policy and Planning (OTPP), Ministry of Transport, organized the second hearing on Bangkok – Hua Hin
High Speed Rail Study and Design Project on June 19, 2013, at a hotel in Nakhon Prathom Province. Thailand Cycling Club (TCC)
was again invited to the hearing and represented by a committee member, Mr. Gawin Chutima. The hearing was attended by about 250
persons from six provinces where the HSR is expected to go through.
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After the HSR Project Team presented some details on engineering, environmental and public participation aspects of the
project, the meeting was then opened to participants to ask questions and express their views of which mostly were about land
surrendering to the state and rail-road crossings. The TCC representative, on the other hand, commented that presentations, whether in
oral, publication or display board forms, mentioned nothing about bicycle (different from a similar project for the Bangkok – Chiang Mai
line). He then asked the project owner to address use of bicycles and development of existing rail systems, particularly local trains and
double-rails, as a feeder system to bring people to the HSR together with bus systems. The OTPP should discourage passengers to
drive their personal cars to park at HSR stations as it would cause traffic problems for surrounding communities. Train passenger coach
should be designed to store bicycle without charge at one end similar to luggage and wheelchairs as well, as OTPP representative at a
hearing on Bangkok – Chiang Mai HSR Project revealed that facilities for bicycles on HSR train had already been taken into
consideration how to design. An OTPP representative in this meeting responded that all the four HSR Study and Design Projects are
overseen by one steering committee, any decisions therefore would be the same for all projects.
In addition to Gawin Chutima, Associate Professor Panit Phujinda, a TCC Committee Member, was also invited to sit in the
panel to answer questions and provide knowledge and information as a town planning expert.
The High-Speed Rail would travel at 250 km. per hour over a distance of about 200-225 km. with 5 stations from Bangkok to
reach Hua Hin in 1 hour 5 minutes. It is the first phase of a southern line HSR project which would travel about 1,160 km. from Bangkok
to Padang Besar on Thai-Malaysian borders in 4 hours 40 minutes.
Reported by Gawin Chutima
TCC Committee Member
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