State Railway of Thailand (SRT) staff are working against time to remove the locomotive and three carriages of a special express train which derailed on the northern route in Long district, Phrae province, early on Saturday. The work is expected to be completed on Sunday afternoon.
On Sunday morning, Pichet Khunathamrat, director of the Department of Rail Transport, accompanied Deputy Transport Minister Surapong Piyachote in a trip to Long district for an inspection of the derailment site.
The incident occurred at 5.48am on Saturday between Kaeng Luang and Ban Pin railway stations in Long district while Special Express Train No 13 from Bangkok was heading for Chiang Mai. The derailment was caused by damage to the rail track made by forest runoff.
The train's locomotive, a baggage car and two sleeping cars derailed.
No train staff and passengers were hurt. However, the rail route was closed for the derailed locomotive and carriages to be removed from the track and for the rail track to be repaired.
Mr Pichet said one of the sleeping cars was lifted from the track with a crane and towed to nearby Kaeng Luang railway station at about 7pm on Saturday.
He expected the removal of the locomotive, the baggage car and the other sleeping car would be completed and the repair of the rail track finished on Sunday afternoon. The rail route should be reopened by 6pm, he said.
