Misplaced Pages

Thon Buri railway station

Article snapshot taken from[REDACTED] with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
(Redirected from Thon Buri Railway Station) Railway station in Bangkok, Thailand This article is about the currently operational station. For the old Thon Buri station from 1942 to 2003, see Bangkok Noi railway station.
This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (December 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Thon Buri
ธนบุรี
General information
LocationRotfai Road, Siriraj Subdistrict, Bangkok Noi District
Bangkok
Thailand
Operated byState Railway of Thailand
Managed byMinistry of Transport
Line(s)Thon Buri Line
Platforms2
Tracks5
Connectionsalt text Taxi / Motorcycle taxi
Construction
Structure typeAt-grade
ParkingYes
Other information
StatusTerminus for ordinary and commuter trains
Station codeธบ.
ClassificationClass 1
History
Opened1999
Previous namesBangkok Noi
Services
Preceding station State Railway of Thailand Following station
Terminus Southern LineThon Buri Line Charansanitwong Halttowards Taling Chan
Location

Thon Buri railway station (Thai: สถานีรถไฟธนบุรี) formerly known as Bangkok Noi railway station (สถานีรถไฟบางกอกน้อย), is a class 1 railway station and the current terminus of the Thon Buri Branch Line in Bangkok. Near the station is a railway depot that keeps five functional steam locomotives operable for four special occasions. Thon Buri station is the only station in Bangkok that has railway semaphore signals (although unused) still present on the station grounds.

Despite its name, the station does not relate to Thon Buri district, which instead is located in Bangkok Noi district.

History

Originally, the station's location was at Bangkok Noi railway station. It opened in 1903 as a terminus for all Southern Line services. The station was the site of the 0 km mark for the Southern Line. During World War II it was bombed by the Allies as it was a Japanese logistical centre. After the war, the station was rebuilt and was named Thon Buri, opening in 1950. Over the years, Thon Buri Station's role as a major terminal faded as most train services moved to terminate at Bangkok railway station, leaving only ordinary and commuter trains to end here.

In 1999, Chuan Leekpai started a project to renovate the Thon Buri Station area, so a temporary railway station (class 4) was built at the present-day location, about 800 metres from the original location. This station was to be called Bangkok Noi Station. The original Thon Buri Station still opened for ticketing, but passengers boarded at the temporary station. Later events were to end this arrangement.

During Thaksin Shinawatra's government, trains continued services to the original Thon Buri Station. Then the land around the original Thon Buri railway station was granted to the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital. As a result, on 4 October 2003, services to the original Thon Buri Station stopped completely. The station building was given to Mahidol University, and all services were changed to terminate at Bangkok Noi Station. On 1 January 2004, Bangkok Noi railway station was renamed Thon Buri, and the station's class 4 status was upgraded to class 1.

As of 2015, the original Thon Buri railway station building houses the Siriraj Phimukhsthan Museum. The former temporary station is now the station in use. Despite fewer trains on the Southern Line terminating here compared to Bangkok, all distances along the Southern Line still refer to this station as kilometre 0.

See also

References

13°45′38″N 100°28′44″E / 13.7606°N 100.4789°E / 13.7606; 100.4789

Thailand State Railway of Thailand Railway Stations
Southern Line
Southern Main Line
Thon Buri Branch Line
Suphan Buri Branch Line
Burma Railway
(Nam Tok Branch Line)
Khiri Rat Nikhom Branch Line
Kantang Branch Line
Nakhon Si Thammarat Branch Line
Padang Besar Branch Line
Categories:
Thon Buri railway station Add topic