UNESCO experts to check proposed high-speed railway station site
Inspection aimed at ensuring project does not affect Ayutthaya Historical Park
Experts from United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) are scheduled to join Thai authorities in inspecting the site for the new Ayutthaya Station from January 18-22, to ensure that the construction and the station pose no negative impact to the Ayutthaya Historical Park, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) said on Friday.
The station is part of the fourth and fifth contracts of the Thai-Chinese high-speed rail project, running from Ban Pho to Phra Kaew stations in Ayutthaya province, a distance of 13.3 km.
The Office of Natural Resources and Environment Policy and Planning had instructed the SRT to prepare an HIA (Heritage Impact Assessment) report on the new station, which will be built near the Ayutthaya Historical Park in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya district.
The report was submitted to UNESCO on November 25, SRT governor Veeris Ammarapala said.
He said UNESCO had requested additional information on two topics: Additional review of the railway development project and connectivity between the station and future transport projects.
Veeris said the revised report is expected to be resubmitted in January next year, before the scheduled visit of UNESCO experts from January 18-22.
In the meantime, the SRT will go ahead with designing the station, and letting contractors start track construction in the section leading to the new station, he said.
The 4th and 5th contracts were awarded to Boonchai Panich (1979) Ltd at a proposed price of 10.32 billion baht after the original bid winner in 2020, Italian-Thai Development Plc, which had proposed 9.91 billion baht, failed to sign the contracts within the deadline.
The 873-kilometre rail link mega-project, estimated to cost 341 billion baht, has been plagued by delays caused by financing and contractual disputes. The construction on the Thailand side began in 2017.
The first phase covers a distance of 253 km from Bangkok to the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, comprising 14 work contracts with an estimated total budget of 179.41 billion baht.
