Train service briefly delayed in Songkhla after bolts stolen from tracks

Ekkarat Sriarayanpong, spokesman of the State Railway of Thailand, said railway staff found that 325 railway pinning bolts and five steel plates for supporting tracks above a bridge were removed from a section of the tracks between Hat Yai station and Klong Ngae station in Songkhla’s Hat Yai district.

Ekkarat said the section of railway was closed in the morning for repair and re-opened at 12:15pm.

The closure caused two trains to be delayed. One was travelling from Padang Besar to Hat Yai and the other was going in the opposite direction, Ekkarat added.

Ekkarat said State Railway of Thailand was working with security agencies to increase protection of the railway.

SRT governor Nirut Maneephan has instructed railway officials to ask members of local communities in southern border provinces to help monitor rail lines to prevent interruption to service, Ekkarat said.

On December 3, a freight train was derailed by a blast in Songkhla's Sadao district. A second explosion three days later killed three engineers who were inspecting the scene. Both incidents have been blamed on insurgents.

Related story:

Two suspects in Narathiwat police residential building attack arrested