More delays likely for 5 double-track railway routes
IT COULD be nearly two more years before five double-track railway projects can finally be opened for bidding, partly because of the need to draft new terms of reference (TOR), which will take seven to eight months, according to sources in the State Railway of Thailand (SRT).
Another potential delay to the long-awaited mega-project could result from the separation of signalling-system installation from the main contracts. That installation work alone could take a year or more.
In all, the five routes will cover 668 kilometres for a total project value estimated at Bt95.8 billion.
A revision of the original TOR was ordered by the junta-installed State Enterprise Policy Commission, better known as the “superboard”.
That body has recommended that instead of tendering five major contracts for the five rail routes, they should be split into 13 contracts valued at Bt5 billion to Bt10 billion each. The SRT is reviewing that proposal, said Anon Luangboriboon, acting governor of the SRT.
Once the review is complete, the result will be forwarded to the SRT board for approval before being proposed to the Transport Ministry and the Cabinet some time in April or May. After that, the SRT will draft a new TOR, which will be considered by the superboard before inviting bids from private corporations.
Anon said the SRT was trying to expedite all this, but the process could still take about seven to eight months.
In addition to these five routes, the SRT has nine double-track routes totalling 2,217km in its current action plan. These projects, worth about Bt390 billion, are awaiting approval from the SRT board.
The board has given a green light for some parts of the 2017 action plan, while approving the number of contracts to be opened for bidding and proposing them to the Transport Ministry. However, the SRT is required to hold back all projects for reconsideration to comply with the superboard’s orders.
“We must review all of the double-track railway projects in the 2017 action plan. Once approved, the SRT board will split them into contracts for bidding later, similar to motorway projects of the Department of Highways,” Anon said.
An anonymous SRT source said all these complications could lengthen the project implementation period for the five routes by two years.
As well, the railway signalling system now will be installed separately from the main contracts, and that will take at least eight to nine months – and if there is an access problem, installation could take more than a year, the source said.
Previously, the construction and signalling-system installation were to be combined into a single contract. Under that scenario, the jobs would have taken between two and a half and four years to complete.
