BANGKOK – For more than a century, the Hua Lamphong Railway Station has greeted and sent off tens of thousands of commuters each day in the heart of Bangkok’s Chinatown.
But it could soon be time for travellers to bid farewell to the historic central terminal, as Thailand’s Transport Ministry mulls over decommissioning it to ease traffic congestion and looks to the new Bang Sue Grand Station to serve as the capital’s main train terminus.
“Hua Lamphong is the first and last thing most people see when they enter Bangkok or leave to go home by train,” freelance driver Siwakorn Phuangsupab, 34, told The Straits Times as he was about to go on a 10-hour train ride to Chiang Mai to visit his family.
An earlier plan to stop all train services at the rail hub by last month has been put on hold, following public outcry from commuters, conservationists and railway workers.
It remains in…
