Thailand’s State Railway (SRT) and related agencies tested a new double-track rail service from Map Ta Phut station in Thailand’s Rayong province to Tha Na Laeng station in Laos.

This route will halve the two to three days it takes to reach Laos by road and significantly reduce the time it takes to reach Laos by sea, according to Panya Paputsaro, managing director of Kaocharoen Train Transport, as quoted by the English-language online newspaper The Nation.

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) and related operators on Monday tested the new dual-track rail service from Rayong’s Map Ta Phut station to Tha Na Laeng station in Laos.#train #rayong #thailand #ThailandNews #TheNationThailand

Read more: https://t.co/RfT0HsNLil

— The Nation Thailand (@Thenationth) November 16, 2021

The trains also help reduce emissions, traffic accidents and contain the spread of COVID-19, he added.

Paputsaro said the next step will be to offer special tour packages from Rayong to Laos and China, adding that this will not only boost Rayong’s economy, but also help Thailand become an economic hub in Southeast Asia.

-Thailand News (TN)