1. History

2. Branch route

3. Particular

4. Services

5. Notable stations
    Namtok Branch 

6. Station List

7. References

• Su-ngai Kolok Main Line
• Thon Buri Line
• Suphanburi Line (part of GBCR)
• Burma Railway (former links to Myanmar Railways)
• Khiri Rat Nikhom Line
• Kantang Line
• Nakhon Si Thammarat Line
• Padang Besar Line (links to KTM ETS & KTM Komuter)}}

Southern Line is a railway line in Thailand, built and owned by State Railway of Thailand (SRT), located in some provinces in Central, Western, and Southern region of Thailand. Its length is 1,144.29 kilometres, making it the longest railway line in Thailand.

The Southern Line is often the target of terrorist attacks of the South Thailand Insurgency especially between the Hat Yai-Sungai Kolok section. All stations and halts between Hat Yai Junction and Sungai Kolok have been fenced off and gates will open and close only during operating hours.

History

In 1894, the Danish engineer Aage Westenholz (1859-1935), uncle of the writer Karen Blixen, a concession to build a route from Bangkok to Phetchaburi. As with other, similar projects of this time to railway construction in Thailand, the start of construction failed due to the difficulty of raising sufficient capital for the project. As a result of this situation, the Thai state decided in 1898 to build the main links of the country by the state itself, he bought back the concession. Other concession requests made by railroad entrepreneurs in the Thai part of the Malay Peninsula were all rejected.

On April 1, 1903, traffic on the first completed section between Bangkok-Thonburi and Phetchaburi was picked up with makeshift carriage material: delivery of a significant portion of the vehicles had been delayed. Only when these had arrived, the official opening on June 19, 1903 by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V.) More sections followed successively from 1911 until on July 1, 1918, the traffic was recorded via Padang Besar to Malaysia - initially with two trains per week, which operated with a journey time of 60 hours. An official opening ceremony did not take place - due to the war. In 1922 night traffic and sleeping cars were introduced. Until then, long-distance trips were interrupted for overnight stays. The RSR maintained hotels at major train stations. The travel time from Bangkok to Penang reduced to just over 30 hours.

After the Thai state had bought back the West timber concession, now planned the Royal Railway Department (RRD) in the Ministry of Public Works under Karl Bethge the route to Phetchaburi. The construction work began in April 1900. In contrast to the rest of the Thai railway network, which was built in standard gauge, the state railway here chose the meter gauge to facilitate a later seamless transition to the also meterspurigen railways in Burma and Malaya. This was all the easier, as the Southern Railway initially could not get any rail connection to the rest of the network, as there was no bridge over the Mae Nam Chao Phraya yet. Therefore, the route was not from the Bangkok Hua Lamphong Central Station, but received their own terminus in Thonburi, the station Thonburi. Its reception building was designed in the style of brick expressionism by the German architect Karl Döhring.

Because of the length of the route, the construction was simultaneously driven by three routes: from Phetchaburi to the south, from the port Songkhla on the east coast and from the port Kantang on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula.

The opening dates are as follows:

• 1911: Phetchaburi – Hua Hin in two sections,
• 1913: Kantang – Huai Yot
• 1 January 1914: Kantang – Thung Song Junction
• 1 January 1914: Songkhla–Phatthalung
• 1 January 1914: Hua Hin–Wang Phong
• 1 October 1914: The sections driven by Kantang and Songkhla are merged.
• 1 October 1916: The southern and the northern parts of the line were merged at Chumphon, well the continuous operation is opened.

The Northern RRD was forced to relinquish the meter gauge line, already built under its direction from Bangkok Thonburi to Phetchaburi to the southern state railway. This was not only technically reasonable, because it provided a uniform administration for each of the two gauges operated by the state, but also a political balancing act of the Thailand, which until 1917 was neutral in the First World War. The northern RRD worked under the German director Karl Bethgen, the southern under the British Henry Gittens, whose countries of origin were now enemies of the war.

After Thailand's entry into the war on the British and French sides on July 22, 1917, the connection of the Malay and the Thai railway network received high priority. Initially, it was planned to establish the connection via the east coast of Malaysia following route. The construction progress of the track in Malaysia was slow. So the authorities decided to establish a connection with the Malay West Railway. This was put into operation in 1918. The route over the eastern border crossing Sungai Kolok could only go into operation on 1 November 1921.

The Thonburi railway station was destroyed in the air raids in 1945. After World War II, General Philbul Songkhram had the reception building reinstated to the original style. In 2003, the terminus of the line westward to the previous station Bangkok Noi, was relocated to use the vacated railway area for the extension of Siriraj Hospital and the Noi station was renamed to Thon Buri railway station once again. The former reception building has not been used then. It should be included in the extension of the hospital.

Branch route

The section south of Songkhla, is 29 km long and was opened on 1 January 1914. Branch station was initially U-Taphao Junction (km 925.80). The location of the branch station was chosen unfavorably: it was located in the flood area of Khlong U-Taphao. Therefore, in 1922 the branch was relocated to the newly built Hat Yai Junction (km 928.58). The branch line was shut down on July 1, 1978.

The branch line from Khao Chum Thong Junction (781.01 km) to Nakhon Si Thammarat is 35 km long. It was opened on 1 October 1914.

Particular

South of Phetchaburi consisted of a 12 km long "siding" on the beach of Hat Chao Samran, which served only that 1921-1923 King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) and his court could travel by special train directly to the local summer palace. The branch station for this connection was called Phra Ram Ratchaniwet and was abandoned as well as the track to Hat Chao Samran when the king did not go there in summer.

Hua Hin Railway Station has a separate pavilion as a reception building for the king, built around 1920.

Services

The line is divided into eight branch lines:

• Su-ngai Kolok Main Line: from Bangkok to Su-ngai Kolok District, Narathiwat Province
• Thon Buri Line: short branch line in Bangkok
• Suphanburi Line: from Bangkok to Suphanburi, it is also the part of Greater Bangkok Commuter rail.
• Burma Railway (or Nam Tok Line): from Ban Pong, Ratchaburi to Sai Yok District, Kanchanaburi Province
• Khiri Rat Nikhom Line: from Surat Thani to Khiri Rat Nikhom District
• Kantang Line: from Thung Song District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province to Kantang District, Trang Province
• Nakhon Si Thammarat Line: short branch line in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province
• Padang Besar Line: from Hat Yai to Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia

There is another line that was defunct. That line is Songkhla Line, closed in 1978.

Notable stations

The Southern Line begins in Bangkok and heads west towards Nakhon Pathom before splitting into 3 different routes. One route heads west towards Kanchanaburi Province (km 210) while another heads north towards Suphan Buri (km 157). The Southern Line itself continues southbound through Ratchaburi, Phetchaburi, Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, Chumphon, to Surat Thani 678 kilometers away. From Surat Thani, there is a westerly branch towards Khiri Rat Nikhom while the main line continues south to Thung Song Junction in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province where another branch reaches Kantang in Trang Province. Not far further another branch separates off the mainline at Khao Chum Thong Junction. The main line from Nakhon Sri Thammarat continues through Phatthalung before reaching Hat Yai Junction in Songkhla Province. From here, the line branches to connect with the Malaysian railway at Padang Besar and Sungai Kolok passing through Yala Province in the process.

• Bang Sue Junction - Main junction and freight terminal with main Diesel Locomotive Depot and Refueling facility
• Bang Bamru Station- Suburban Station, all trains must stop here. First station after crossing the Rama 6 Bridge from Bang Sue.
• Taling Chan Junction- Junction for Southern Main Line(Bang Sue-Taling Chan Link) and Thonburi Branch.
• Thonburi Station - Former terminus of Southern Line, however some southern trains remain to start the journey here.
• Salaya Station- Suburban Station, for Phutthamonthon District and Mahidol University (Salaya Campus)
• Nakhon Pathom Station - Main southern suburban station. Main Nakhon Pathom station.
• Nong Pladuk Junction - Junction for Namtok Branch Line and Suphan Buri Branch Line.
• Ban Pong Station - Interchange to Kanchanaburi for those who did not travel along Nam Tok branch line
• Ratchaburi Station - Terminal for southern suburban service, also Ratchaburi main station.
• Phetchaburi Station - Phetchaburi main station.
• Hua Hin Station - Provincial Station for Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan with beautiful architecture, crew changing station.
• Wang Phong Station- One of the stations in Pran Buri. Also for the nearby Thanarat Military Camp. More trains stop here for Pran Buri than Pran Buri Station itself.
• Pran Buri Station- Smaller station for Pran Buri, with a famous Saturday Night Market opposite the station.
• Prachuap Khiri Khan Station - Prachuap Khiri Khan main station.
• Bang Saphan Yai Station - Regional Town Station, however all trains going further south must stop here.
• Chumphon Station - Main Chumphon station, locomotive depot with refueling facility
• Lang Suan Station- Provincial Station in Chumphon. Furthest extent of southern services from Thonburi.
• Ban Thung Pho Junction - Southern Container Yard, for Khiri Rat Nikhom Branch.
• Khiri Rat Nikhom Station - Terminus for the Khiri Rat Nikhom Branch and the railway plan to Phang-Nga and Tanun (Phuket).
• Surat Thani Station - Crew changing station and Surat Thani main station.
• Thung Song Junction - Locomotive Depot, refueling facility and junction for Kantang Branch.
• Trang Station - Trang main station.
• Kantang Station - Terminus of Kantang Branch.
• Khao Chum Thong Junction - Junction for Nakhon Si Thammarat Branch.
• Nakhon Si Thammarat Station - Terminus of Nakhon Si Thammarat Branch. Nakhon Si Thammarat main station.
• Phatthalung Station - Phatthalung main station, crew changing station
• Hat Yai Junction - Main junction for Malaysia and Singapore and Main Line of Southern Line, Locomotive Depot and refueling facility. Main Songkhla Station.
• Padang Besar Station - International KTM station in Malaysia. Trains continue to Butterworth (Penang) and further.
• Pattani Station - formerly Khok Pho station, Pattani main station.
• Yala Station - Main Yala station, crew changing station
• Tanyong Mat Station - for Ra Ngae district and Narathiwat.
• Su-ngai Kolok Station - Terminus of Southern Line. Used to be an international station until the termination of cross border services.

Namtok Branch

• Thon Buri Station - Terminus of Western Line
• Taling Chan Junction - Junction for Bangsue - Taling Chan link (also known as Rama 6 Line), the connection between south and north SRT systems opened with the building of the only rail bridge across the Chao Phraya River in 1925.
• Salaya Station - Bangkok suburban station close to Mahidol University (Salaya Campus)
• Nakhon Pathom Station - Nakhon Pathom main station.
• Nong Pladuk Junction - Junction for Suphan Buri and Kanchanaburi.
• Suphanburi Station - A 2-car DMU operates to Bangkok in the early morning and from Bangkok in the evening.
• Kanchanaburi Station - Main Kanchanaburi station
• Nam Tok Station - Terminus of Western Line.

Station List

References

1. http://portal.rotfaithai.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=17
2. http://portal.rotfaithai.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=3627

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