Fancy a fast train ride from KL to Bangkok? Like most city-to-city high-speed rail services such as the London-Paris Eurostar and the proposed KL-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR), the benefit over flying is one does not have to travel all the way to the airport (usually a distance from the city) and go through the entire check-in and immigration process. The flight itself might not be long, but the total door-to-door travel time is.
In the case of KL-BKK, imagine boarding at KL Sentral and going straight into Bangkok’s core – say a rail hub with both BTS and MRT lines such as Chatuchak – skipping the trip to KLIA and the congestion from Suvarnabhumi to the city (that’s you, I take the train). Nice, right?
Guess what, not only is Malaysia trying to revive talks on the KL-Singapore HSR, the government is also exploring a feasibility study on a KL-Bangkok HSR project. This was mentioned by transport minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong in parliament this week while touching on the KL-SG HSR, which you can read about in detail here.
“In line with the prime minister’s visit to Thailand on the 25th of February, 2022, the transport ministry is also exploring the possibility of having an HSR feasibility study from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok,” he said, reported by The Star.
No further elaboration for now – just that. A quick Google Maps search shows that the distance (by road) from KL Sentral to Bangkok’s Hua Lamphong is just short of 1,500 km. Flying from KL to Bangkok typically takes two hours and 10 minutes, before factoring in travel to and from airports and the check-in process.
So, what do you think of a KL-BKK HSR? If you’re liking the idea, don’t get your hopes too high – just look at the telenovela that is the on, off, maybe, off, on again KL-SG HSR.
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It is a telenovela because we had elected stupid politicians that played politics with our rail projects and cancelled HSR without even referring to any conclusive study from experts that it was no good. There is a lot more economic benefits derived from HSR like we seen with Shinkansen, TGV and Eurostar. Only those with poitical axe to grind would have cut such projects.
It was officially cancelled during PN’s though
Wee Ka Siong in a court case trying to hog china contractor to replace current local contractor klang over klsng valley double track project. So now the double tracking job will be delayed, possibly over ten years until after numerous appeal etc before job can be resumed.
I presume, same china rail contractor enticed him to get the hsr from singspore to bsngkok project moving, with funding, like ECRL snd Jakarta to bandung hsr.
Wee was also involved in the huge losses at port klang free trade zone project. Now we want to give the same guy a even bigger prize after such huge failures.
KL to bangkok by hsr will take over 6 hours to complete. And flying will be faster snd cheaper. Flying planes does not require tens of billions in construction of rail tracks.
And high speed rail lines cannot be used for cargo trains. Might as well build slower trains running at 200km/ hr and track can still be used for cargo.
Such shortsighted thinking the same backwards mentality that had doomed the original HSR.
HSR have been proven to be economically viable to replace shorthaul flights, see shinkansen. And no where in this world has HSR rail been used to haul goods, building slower rail network to serve both people & goods will not serve the purpose of HSR. Goods can wait, highly paid people cannot. Understand?
Why double tracking project was delayed with so many issues? 2 words: Pakatan Harapan. They tried to cancel the project, failing in that then they shifted it to their cronies who had no rail building experience. Once Wee Ka Siong came in, he stopped all that nonsense and awarded to those who could deliver.
Economically viable? Did you read the concern of the original KL-SG HSR project?
Copy paste: “Pemikiran kebelakang. Orang ni baik naik kereta lembu saja lagi murah”
Pemikiran kebelakang. Orang ni baik naik kereta lembu saja lagi murah
Yaya, SYD you are most clever, the Japan is so dump with their Shinkansen, europe also dump, China too. You talk coxk in your little room. I m so lucky I nvr go voting in GE14. My friend who cry with tears bringing the whole family and baby too to witness the historical voting back then and wanna record it for decendant to see now wanna burry the whole incident like nothing ever happen. If not for the stupid PH, the spe highway and many mega project would have completed or almost completed. Dont play with mega project maa..benefit to us what..now the whole KL road suck like hell because of project delay, EV factory go to neighbour, China investment gone, Johor Iskandar city is pathetic, HSR with 400kmh speed no more, even if revived and done, we got old already la…haih…bunch of aswhole. Give back BN la diuu at least got development.
Copy paste: “Betoi hang. Sewenangnye toksah Ubah pada 2018. Ingatnye kito ubah jadik lagi baik, tgk pulak ubah jadik lagi terok! Lagi baik jgn Ubah dulu. nyesal betoi!”
I read long time ago that any travel over 500km, flying makes more sense. Not sure if that statement is still true in this scenario.
Tokyo to Osaka is 502km and it is the most busiest bullet train service in the world.
2nd busiest? Tokyo to Hokkaido at 832km distance.
So nope. Distance doesn’t matter with bullet trains. Border transfers do. If passengers could precheck upon arrival, they no need to go thru Immigration later at the end, saving more time than flying.
Dumb argument. You can’t compare intercity travel within the same country with cross country travel. Economically, it doesn’t make sense.
Even dumber argument. International rail travel would be even faster with easier border controls between both countries. Economically, it makes perfect sense.
You are the dump one, Chong is stating element of distance and Alan is answering comparing distance. No one asking economical substance. Read before you act cool. Europe too is travelling to different country with bullet train covering hundreds of KM, taking plane in europe is expensive if compared to hsr. Go back to your kampung and fish if you dont need any developement. PH full with ppl like you, act talk clever but do nothing, just make a mess. Diu hua ren de lian.
Yes. Study from Japan mark 500 km and below as optimum distance for rail.
Yet their Shinkansen lines are all >500km long.
no need HSR to Bangkok. Flight rates are cheap enough already.
People already complaining the expensive ticket for flights to Sarawak, so how much more pricier you think for international flights to BKK? This is the new norm, flights are no longer so cheap before Covid.
Far fetch but yet still make more sense than the undersea tunnel linking Melaka to Dumai. What a bunch of clueless politicians.
Tunnel from sumatera to melaka makes more sense than these HSR projects. logistically it will bypass Jakarta as the transit hub for all things from Sumatera to Peninsular. it will open the opportunity for Malaysian to obtain cheaper products which is currently logistically unfeasibly to move due to long transit time
I hate it when PH stopped the HSR from KL to Singapore. Not a smart decision. Luckily they did not stay in power for long.
Another dumb argument. There is no economic merits with such a high cost. Air travel is way cheaper.
Another even dumber argument. Flights today are costlier than prepandemic with Covid measures in placed, with looser restrictions and border controls, it is faster and cheaper to go via highspeed rail.
wow, calling people’s names. We can see what level of mentality you have
This is a great idea! A bullet train from SG to KL and then KL to Bangkok with KL being the hub aka Tokyo Station except on a grand pan-national scale! Let’s do it!
For a land distance of 1,500 km, the HSR will take around 5 hrs making a door-to-door trip of about 6 hrs. With stops in between, it would at least be 7 hrs. which is much longer than the flight time. The infrastructure cost to build and to maintain would alao be astronomical and the fare will not be competitive to that of air travel making it a high risk project.
How sure are you flight is faster? KL to KLIA takes 1-1.5hr, flight 2 hrs or 3 if waiting for clearance to go, from Suvarnabhumi to Sukhumvit it takes 2-3 hours in peak period. How long is that? Almost 8 hours bro. And worse you are paying more for flight vs HSR ticket. Going via HSR is a viable option.
Great. Another opportunity for some people to funnel millions of dollars of tax money into their bank accounts.
Pada saya senang je….jika Kita betul2 mahukan & perlukan keretapi laju seperti negara Maju….berhenti daripada bermain politik….saya sudah muak dengan Pemain Politik…..kerana kesan nya amat BESAR….Bila mereka BERKUASA….mereka gunakan kuasa untuk BERHENTIKAN PROJEK….contoh…keretapi laju…dah berapa perdana menteri yg mangambil alih projek ini…..bila mereka TIDAK setuju dengan APA yg mereka mahukan….mereka BERHENTIKAN terus projek ni….seolah2 projek yg diusahakan ITU tidak perlu untuk keperluan negara….khususnya untuk rakyat….jadi….kalau Masih BERMAIN POLITIK…..LEBIH BAIK JANGAN BUAT TERUS…terima kasih.
We need ministers who can deliver like WKS, not loklok ministers who cancels projects and bury their heads in the sand waiting to be cooked.
Betoi hang. Sewenangnye toksah Ubah pada 2018. Ingatnye kito ubah jadik lagi baik, tgk pulak ubah jadik lagi terok! Lagi baik jgn Ubah dulu. nyesal betoi!
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People need more hospitals…
It is going to be tought one since it is going to be constructed in 3 phases
1. Bang Sue Grand central – Hua Hin near Bo Fai airport
2. Hua Hin near Bo Fai airport – Surat Thani
3. Surat Thani – Padang Besar
The distance from Bang Sue Grand Central to Padang besar should be around 982 km.
BTW, Covid-19 epidemic has caused the big delay on the ongoing massive double tracking though.
Why waste money? just continue expanding ets line to BKKlaaa… xdak duit berangan lbh
Pls don’t try to persuade govt to build another rail line to spore… dh ada ets to jb and rts jb to woodlands north…
haiya kawan… Ets sudah adalaa… Just extend it to woodlands chk points… nk cepat naik flight bro… its only 1 hr maa… both transportation ministries can sit down together to come out with express flight KUL-SIN vice versa ker ie boarding time 30 mins b4 departure ker, use dedicated terminal ker ie KLIA/klia2 for express KUL-SIN service regardless mas/airasia/jetstar/scoot/etc and fast track immigration chk… for passengers with carry on luggage only. nk chk in luggage guna normal flight
why don’t we improve connectivity between senai airport and changi airport by extending rts to changi as well as klia with existing ktm line to facilitate transportation of both passanger and goods via KLIA
kalo ada bajet lbh blh x extending komuter svs to melaka incl airport, bus station.and city
ni mcm pepatah melayu pulak… kera di hutan disusukn
ank sendiri mati kelaparan…
why subsidize other countries? with limited resources Malaysia should use it to improve its efficiency…
kalo xdak idea sgt channel this hsr budget to improve sabah n sarawak roads and public facilities…ie link to kalimantan/ Nusantara to take advantage of Indonesia’s new capital city… indon ada 220 mil people maa… besides being anticipated as ASEAN new growth engine.
That’s great to know that we can travel from Kuala Lumpur Sentral to Bangkok by train. Let’s do it! Nowadays, flight tickets are not as cheap as pre-COVID days.
Haha, your comment sounds funny. we already have ets from kl till thailand border. if u want ets to BKK, we just need to negotiate with thai and tell them to connect their “ets” with us and we dont need to pay anything
Good comments
Wow! It is great to know that one can travel from Kuala Lumpur Sentral to Bangkok. Let us go ahead and do it! Now it is the time to travel without waiting at the airport lounge, knowing that airplane fares are more costly than before (AirAsia Airlines are not able to provide cheap flight tickets nowadays).
In my humble opinion, this is just a tactic by the Malaysian government to prevent the Kra Canal from becoming a reality. The completion of the Kra Canal would sound the death knell of Port Klang and PTP Malaysia and thus we need to nip it in the bud
The ECRL is already sounded the death knell of Kra Canal. That was why it is imperative WKS restarted that project as soon as possible before China considers to ‘sponsor’ for that canal. PH celebrated nearly cancelling then than changing ECRL ‘pin guai’ that would have disinterested Chinese involvement and turned their attention to Kra, almost risked killing our entreport.
Too many emotional comments.
Honestly, government should just focus on improving public transportation in Malaysia first before considering connecting to neighbouring countries. Additionally I think government should also mandate that the builders of such infrastructure holds at least 30% stakes in the concessionaire for at least 10years. If they are willing to take up the offer, then it will prove that such project is viable since most of the main concerns involved economic viability since our average income isn’t there yet.
People are understandably emotional simply because it was an emotional decision by PH Govt back then to cancel HSR without due consultation or study by experts, plus the penalties paid for nuts. Even if you said that Govt should focus on improving public transportation, take a look at the map and see that HSR is connecting half the distance in Malaysia and having more stations compared to Thailand.
haurah coletion