Modern rail links essential for regional development

High speed success: Japan’s extensive HSR network – as seen in this exhibition in Kuala Lumpur a few years ago – was credited as a contributing factor to its resounding economic success in the 1980s. — Filepic/The Star

THE role of modern rail services to spur new economic development regions in Asia is a well-recognised one, and one need not look further than Thailand and Indonesia when it comes to incorporating high speed rail (HSR) as part of the equation.

On Oct 24, 2019, then Thai prime minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha presided over the signing ceremony of a public-private partnership for a HSR linking three major airports – Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi, and U-Tapao (in Rayong province, facing the Gulf of Thailand).