WWII railway station emerges from Thailand reservoir after 40 years

A historic railway station from World War II has resurfaced in Thailand after more than four decades underwater. The Nite station, a crucial supply point on the infamous "Death Railway" connecting Thailand and Myanmar, was submerged when a nearby reservoir was drained for dam maintenance.

The railway, immortalized in the 1957 film "The Bridge on the River Kwai," earned its grim nickname due to the tens of thousands of laborers and prisoners of war who perished during its construction. Approximately 250,000 people, including 60,000 Allied POWs from Britain, the United States, and Canada, along with hundreds of thousands of Asian laborers, were involved in building the 413-kilometer (257-mile) track between October 1942 and October 1943.

Remains of the Nite station began emerging in April after the Thai state electricity company released water from the reservoir. Photographs reveal sections of railway tracks and remnants of structures that once served the station. Among the notable discoveries is the upper concrete section of an old inspection pit, a rare preserved element of the original line, as most stations have been reconstructed or demolished over the years.