Nakhon ratchasima: Italian-Thai Development executives affirm that safety standards are in place to oversee their operations. Thai Development Public Company Limited executives affirmed that safety standards are in place to oversee operations while trains are passing. The dismantling of the crane used for the high-speed railway construction is expected to be completed today. Meanwhile, the Sikhiu Police Station has not yet finalized its investigation report.
According to Thai News Agency, progress is being made in dismantling the crane supports that collapsed on the Bangkok-Ubon Ratchathani express train in Sikhiu District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province on January 14th, resulting in 30 deaths and over 60 injuries. Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited has successfully dismantled one of the four crane supports. Three remain to be dismantled. Italian-Thai executives expect the dismantling of both the bases and the cranes themselves to be completed today. The crane will be separated into two 200-ton sides by cutting the steel before dismantling. Prior to cutting, water trucks were used to spray the ground beneath the crane to create moisture and prevent sparks from falling.
To expedite railway repairs, officials from the Northeastern Maintenance Center of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) did not wait for the crane dismantling to be completed. Instead, they used a safe section of the railway track near the accident site to assemble the tracks while waiting. They used 60 railway sleepers and two sections of 18-meter-long rails (totaling 36 meters). Once the crane dismantling is complete, officials will cut the damaged section of track, slide in the new track, weld it together, and reinforce it with ballast. It is expected that the repair time will be reduced to approximately 4 hours from the initial estimate of 6 hours. Afterward, engineers will inspect the track for safety. If it meets safety standards, train service will resume.
Regarding the investigation into those involved, although the Sikhiu Police Station has not yet concluded the case file, the Deputy Commander of Provincial Police Region 3 indicated that it is highly likely that the incident was caused by negligence; otherwise, such an event would not have occurred.
The executives of Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited confirmed that there are safety standards in place to oversee operations while trains are passing. Regarding who may have violated the rules, they declined to comment further as the matter is under investigation by multiple agencies.