The Burma-Thailand Railway was completed in October 1943. As well as the tracks, bridges, embankments and cuttings, the railway was made up of stations, depots, and trains.
The 2nd Railway Administering Department in Bangkok controlled the railway's operation and timetables. Major General Ishida was the department's commander.
The railway was divided into operating sections. Each section had a large station at its end. These contained workshops, depots, repair facilities and communication centres. Some also had turning triangles.
After its completion, the railway required significant numbers of men to maintain it. Around 9,000 Japanese remained on the railway, along with about 22,000 Asian labourers (rōmusha). Prisoners of war (POWs) were also used to maintain the railway and collect fuel.
The Allied bombing campaign against the railway added to the maintenance work. Bridges were a particular target of Allied bombers. POWs based in nearby Tha Markam camp repaired the 'Bridge on the River Kwai' and its replacement. Bombsites are still visible along the railway today.
Completion of the railway
The main traffic centres on the line are spots of considerable activity, with reversing triangles and many locomotive shelters. They consist of usually well-dispersed spurs, on which trains are kept during the daytime as much of the traffic moves only at night.
[Office of Strategic Services report, January 1945, quoted in Paul H. Kratoska (ed.), The Thai-Burma Railway, 1942-1946, Routledge, London, 2006, p 56]
When completed in October 1943, the Burma-Thailand Railway consisted of a complex system of infrastructure supporting train movements. In addition to the tracks, bridges, embankments and cuttings, the railway was made up of 63 named stations, depots and the trains themselves.
The headquarters of the 2nd Railway Administering Department was based in Bangkok, and was commanded by Major General Ishida. It was from here that the operation of the railway was controlled and timetables were written.
The railway itself was divided into operating sections. Large stations were placed at the end of each section containing:
- workshops
- depots
- repair facilities
- and communication centres.
Turning triangles were constructed at some of the larger stations, such as Kanchanaburi in Thailand, which served as key bases for the railway.
Within sections were smaller stations and passing loops placed, at most, 10 km apart. These allowed trains running to a timetable to pass each other. Hintok station, around 3 km from Hellfire Pass, was one such station. The clearing for the dual tracks of the turning loop is still visible today.
Trains on the railway
The Japanese sourced the trains for the railway from Japan and the territory they captured in 1941–42:
- 52 from Japan
- 53 from Malaya
- 30 from Burma
- 7 from Java.
Trains from Malaya and Burma were wood-burning and less powerful than the coal-burning Japanese trains. But they were easier to supply as they could be fuelled with local wood. These trains were allocated to the more gentle sections of the railway. They would pass their railway cars on to more powerful locomotives when the railway reached more difficult terrain.
The Japanese also fitted railway wheels to diesel-fuelled trucks. These were useful for transporting maintenance parties or troops. One such truck was used by the Allied War Graves Commission (now Commonwealth War Graves Commission) survey party after the war.
Around 100 of the original 142 trains were operating by the war's end. Few survive today. The trains now installed at Kanchanaburi near 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' and at the JEATH Museum are postwar locomotives.
During the war, the railway operated only as a supply route. The frequency of the trains depended on the needs of the campaign in Burma (now Myanmar). On their return journey from Burma, trains carried materials for shipment back to Japan. In addition to supplies for the Imperial Japanese Army, trains carried supplies for the maintenance of the railway and food for the labourers still working along the route.
After the defeat of the Japanese in Burma during the final months of the war, the railway was used to evacuate soldiers to Thailand, until its administration was taken over by the Allies after the war.