Hat Yai Junction railway station


Hat Yai Junction is an international railway junction and a Class 1 railway station for the State Railway of Thailand in the center of Hat Yai City, Songkhla Province, Thailand. The station is located from Bangkok's Thon Buri railway station and serves as a junction for the mainline Southern Line towards Pattani, Yala and Sungai Kolok and Padang Besar, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore Line. The station yard is the location of a large locomotive depot: Hat Yai Depot, the southernmost railway depot in Thailand.
Hat Yai Junction encouraged Hat Yai's economic boom and growth, making the city larger than the province's capital Songkhla.

History

The original station was known as U-Taphao Junction and was located to the north of the current station. The U-Taphao station also served as a junction for the Hat Yai–Songkhla Line. However, the junction often got hit by floods and was moved to the present location at Hat Yai Junction. U-Tapao was reduced to a halt and eventually closed. In 1978, the line from Hat Yai to Songkhla City closed down, leaving the junction to be only for the mainline to Sungai-Kolok and the branch to Butterworth.
Since the start of 2013, there have been plans to rebuild the line back to Songkhla City.

Terrorist attacks

Hat Yai Junction has been a target of multiple terrorist attacks during the South Thailand insurgency.
  • 29 June 1977 - Bomb, 14 injured
  • 7 August 1977 - Bomb on Hat Yai–Bangkok Train
  • 1989 - 2 Bombs, 7 dead
  • 7 May 2001 - Bomb, 4 fatalities including a 5-year-old boy.

    Pop culture

Hat Yai Junction railway station is the setting of at least two Thai pop songs, including by Narathip Kanchanawat of Chatree band, in 1980, and has been covered by many artists since then. The second is the Thai protest song, titled 'Promise at Hat Yai' by Jew Khonkhianphleng in 1994.