Northern train derailment 11th in nine months

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 02, 2013
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Chiang MaiBangkok train services resumed at 5am yesterday after officials salvaged a Bangkokbound train that derailed in Lampang's Mae Mo district last night but without injury to its 192 passengers.

 
This was the 11th northern train derailment in the past nine months. The 11bogy train had just left Chiang Mai at 5pm when its engines two front wheels were jumped the tracks. Officials pulled the engine clear for repairs at the nearby Pang Puay Train StationState Railway of Thailand (SRT)'s northern centre head Somchai Kongchuensin said the derailment occurred on an uphill narrow curve that required the driver to run at 20 kilometres an hour before picking up speed. Acting Chiang Mai Train Station head Weerayuth Sawangdee said SRT had planned to close a section of the railway from Silaard Station to Khun Tan Station in Lampang for repairs for 15 days.