Classic route
Death Railway
Bangkok (Thonburi) → Nam Tok · Thailand
Built by Allied POWs and Asian labourers in 1942–43; trains still cross the River Kwai bridge and creep over the cliff-hugging Wang Pho viaduct.
How this line was checked
- The 132 km this route shares with OpenStreetMap relation 13327676 is drawn from that relation's own nodes, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 4 m from it
- The operator publishes this line's timetable: State Railway of Thailand — a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Questions and answers
How long is the Death Railway?
The Death Railway runs 194 km from Bangkok (Thonburi) to Nam Tok.
How long does the Death Railway take?
The fastest scheduled journey is 4 h 45 min for the 194 km. That is an average of 41 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 60 km/h.
Who runs the Death Railway?
State Railway of Thailand, with SRT ordinary (diesel).
How old is the Death Railway?
The line has been in service since 1943. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
More classic routes
- LNER Azuma
The Flying Scotsman’s route since 1862: and where Mallard set the never-beaten steam record of 203 km/h in 1938.
Wikipedia ↗ - Alfa Pendular
A tilting Pendolino leaning through the curves of the 19th-century Linha do Norte between Portugal’s two great cities.
Wikipedia ↗ - EIP Pendolino
Rides Poland’s 1970s Central Main Line (CMK), engineered decades ahead of its time and now being upgraded to 250 km/h.
Wikipedia ↗ - Railjet
Follows the old Orient Express alignment down the Danube plain: centre to centre faster than any flight.
Wikipedia ↗
More train routes in Thailand.