SRT softens reform plans

The State Railway of Thailand union has won a key victory in its fight over reform of the troubled state enterprise.

The SRT management yesterday abandoned its demand that train operations, freight transport and land development functions be split off from the SRT and operated by company subsidiaries.

SRT chairman Thawalrat Onsira said a panel considering the reforms had decided the three functions would no longer be handled by subsidiaries, but would be turned into business units.

Only the Airport Rail Link and future electric train projects would be turned into subsidiaries for the sake of improved efficiency, he said.

The cabinet earlier endorsed an SRT proposal to create subsidiaries. The panel's resolution would be sent to the cabinet as a revision of the previous proposal, Mr Thawalrat said.

"SRT management has agreed to step back, so the union should accept the reform," he said.

Meanwhile, the union yesterday unveiled a list of 76 locomotives it claimed were unsafe for passengers.

Safety equipment on the locomotives did not function properly, it said.

Since those locomotives were being used on routes across the country, it was not easy to say which routes were unsafe and the union said passengers were advised to take note of the train engine numbers.

The union claims 90% of all locomotive stock is worn out, including the 76 engines on its list.

The main problem, it said, lay with the driver alert system, or vigilance system.

Union leader Sawit Kaeowan said the train passenger safety issue had grabbed public attention when a train came off the rails in Khao Tao, Surat Thani, last month, killing seven passengers and injuring 65 others.

The union had written to the SRT urging it to improve the driver alert system, but it would not listen, said Suthin Tharathin, an adviser to the union.