Khun Tan Railway Station

Khun Tan Railway Station สถานีรถไฟขุนตาน
Location	Tha Pladuk Subdistrict, Mae Tha District, Lamphun
Operated by	State Railway of Thailand
Line(s)	Northern Line
Platforms	3
Tracks	3
Other information
Station code	ขน.
Services
Preceding station   State Railway of Thailand   Following station Mae Tan Noi toward Hua Lamphong Northern Line Tha Chomphu toward Chiang Mai

Khun Tan Railway Station is a railway station on the Northern Line located in Lamphun Province, Thailand. It is operated by the State Railway of Thailand, and is 683.14 km (424.5 mi) from Bangkok Railway Station. Khun Tan Railway Station is in the Tha Pladuk Subdistrict, Mae Tha District.

Khun Tan Railway Station is the highest railway station in Thailand, at 578 metres (1,896 ft 4 in) above sea level. Around the railway station is the Doi Khuntan National Park, the reason the station exists, which has bungalows run by the State Railway of Thailand, for visitors' use as well.

Khun Tan tunnel

Khun Tan Tunnel

Two hundred metres from Khun Tan Railway Station, is the Khun Tan Tunnel. It is the longest railway tunnel in Thailand, at 1,352.1 metres (4,436 ft 0 in) in length. Construction took 11 years at a cost of 1.3 million baht. It was finished in 1918.

History

The railway route Bangkok–Chiang Mai had been designed to avoid the Khun Tan Mountains, a barrier between Lampang and Lamphun. The tunnel was built ease trade barriers between the northern and central provinces. Surveys for the tunnel route were started in 1905. Construction began in 1907. First, base pins were set up at a level behind the mountain aligned with the tunnel route so that the tunnel could be blasted to the width needed. Then air compressors were used to drill through the mountain. If these air compressors broke down, then metal chisels were hammered into the rock, explosives inserted and then the rock was blasted to make way for track-laying. The tunnel was finished in 1918 and remains in daily use.

Train services

• Nakhon Phing Express 1/2 Bangkok-Chiang Mai-Bangkok
• Super Express 13/14 Bangkok-Chiang Mai-Bangkok
• Express 51/52 Bangkok-Chiang Mai-Bangkok
• Rapid 109 Bangkok-Chiang Mai
• Rapid 102 Chiang Mai-Bangkok
• Local 407/408 Nakhon Sawan-Chiang Mai-Nakhon Sawan

References

• "สาระความรู้วิชาการรถไฟและประวัติศาสตร์รถไฟไทย" [Academic knowledge, train and railway history Thailand]. Rotfaithai.com forums.
• "บังกะโลขุนตาน" [Khun Tan Station]. State Railway of Thailand.
• State Railway of Thailand. "ประวัติอุโมงค์ขุนตาน และ; การก่อสร้างอุโมงค์ขุนตาน" [Khun Tan Tunnel history; Khun Tan Tunnel Construction] (PDF).

Coordinates: 18°30′02″N 99°15′55″E / 18.5005°N 99.2652°E