Union calls for more trains on Airport Link

[webfact]

Union calls for more trains on Airport Link

By Photo and story by Chalinee Thirasupa 
The Nation 

 

 

Members of the SRT Electrified Train Company’s labor union and some members of the public on Wednesday filed a petition to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha via the government’s Bangkok public complaints centre, calling for speedy procurement of seven electric trains for the Airport Rail Link.

 

The group presented documents, including results of an online poll to back their call, saying that seven new trains would help address crowded conditions on existing trains. They said that demand had risen greatly over the past seven years.

 

 

The group explained that the existing nine trains could support up to 72,000 commuters per day but sometimes the number of passengers – as per the month of April last year – rose to 85,221 people per day.

 

They said the Cabinet had approved the procurement on December 3, 2013 but nothing had been done since then.

 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30338195

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-02-07

 

 

[lamyai3]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

Union calls for more trains on Airport Link

Power to the people! The much needed city line is so busy nowadays (during rush hour especially) that anyone actually needing to use the train to get to the airport is at risk of missing their flight.

 

 

[Srikcir]

19 hours ago, webfact said:

the Cabinet had approved the procurement on December 3, 2013 but nothing had been done since then.

At that time there was a caretaker government and Democrats had walked out of parliament for join anti-government protests. So I'm not sure funds could have been committed for the procurement at that time.

But certainly with the military junta taking control of the government in May 2014, it had the ability to fund the extra trains at any time. As it made a major drive to increase airport tourist arrivals, make major airport improvements and increased GDP contributions from 10% to 17% over the next three and a half years from tourism, it's almost dereliction of duty to ignore the shortcomings of the Airport Link. Better to have purchased tanks and submarines I guess.

[impulse]

8 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

Power to the people! The much needed city line is so busy nowadays (during rush hour especially) that anyone actually needing to use the train to get to the airport is at risk of missing their flight.

 

It wasn't that long ago that posters here declared the line a white elephant for lack of riders.  Just like they condemned the MRT and BTS as bad ideas when they first started operating...

[natway09]

This is what happens when you let the SRT (worst Government Dept in the world) operate anything..

This train is the laughing stock of the SRT & was the first day it opened.

Can you imagine them trying to run a "high" speed train. God torbid

[NoBrainer]

This was a poor design from the beginning. Should have been Dual Track all the way. Running trains in both directions on a single track is a disaster waiting to happen, and severely restricts capacity.

 

It is basically useless as an Airport train. It is far too crowded most of the time, to even get standing room, and nowhere to put large amount of luggage.

 

If you need to catch a flight & your on a tight schedule, the last thing you need is to have to wait for 2 or 3 trains, because there is no way to get in.

 

The only people that like it now are the Taxi Drivers.

 

Should build a new set of tracks Directly from Don Muang to Central Bangkok (Maybe Maakasan, or somewhere better with less traffic, but easy connection to BTS/MRT) and then onward to Suvarnabhumi Airport.  Don't mix it with normal commuters.  Look st the Hong Kong Airport train for some guidance. 

 

Then the Existing Airport Link could be used as a commuter train.

 

But yes, additional cars are badly needed.

[lamyai3]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

It wasn't that long ago that posters here declared the line a white elephant for lack of riders.  Just like they condemned the MRT and BTS as bad ideas when they first started operating...

I recall the argument being more reasoned than that. Without question the Express Link was something of a white elephant, due to the inconvenient travel times and badly located terminal station at Makkasan it frequently ran empty. But this was all about poor planning and execution. The enormous value of a line covering the very populous Eastern route (Ramkhamhaeng and beyond, terminating at the airport and connecting directly to the BTS in the city) has never been in question - the complaints were all about why they couldn't have made it better. Anyone who opined that a city with the kind of traffic problems Bangkok has doesn't need a major increase in public transportation options surely needs their head examined.

 

Maybe the Express Line will never work due to the reasons above, but the arguments for upgrading and improving the City Line are stronger than ever. The ARL, BTS and MRT are all raking in record profits on ticket sales, but there's barely enough room on there to breathe at certain times of the day, assuming you can get on a train in the first place. 

Edited February 8, 2018 by lamyai3

[impulse]

2 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

4 hours ago, impulse said:

It wasn't that long ago that posters here declared the line a white elephant for lack of riders.  Just like they condemned the MRT and BTS as bad ideas when they first started operating...

I recall the argument being more reasoned than that. Without question the Express Link was something of a white elephant, due to the inconvenient travel times and badly located terminal station at Makkasan it frequently ran empty. But this was all about poor planning and execution.

 

Some of the arguments were pretty well reasoned, but a lot of them were just bashing the locals.

 

 

[josephbloggs]

3 hours ago, NoBrainer said:

This was a poor design from the beginning. Should have been Dual Track all the way. Running trains in both directions on a single track is a disaster waiting to happen, and severely restricts capacity.

 

It is basically useless as an Airport train. It is far too crowded most of the time, to even get standing room, and nowhere to put large amount of luggage.

 

If you need to catch a flight & your on a tight schedule, the last thing you need is to have to wait for 2 or 3 trains, because there is no way to get in.

 

The only people that like it now are the Taxi Drivers.

 

Should build a new set of tracks Directly from Don Muang to Central Bangkok (Maybe Maakasan, or somewhere better with less traffic, but easy connection to BTS/MRT) and then onward to Suvarnabhumi Airport.  Don't mix it with normal commuters.  Look st the Hong Kong Airport train for some guidance. 

 

Then the Existing Airport Link could be used as a commuter train.

 

But yes, additional cars are badly needed.

 

What on earth are you talking about?  If you had been on it you would know that it IS dual track all the way.  This is quite obvious because 1) you can see two tracks, and 2) you pass trains going in the opposite direction.

 

I find it quite useful as an airport train because it goes to the airport.  Yes it is way too crowded inbound in the morning rush hour(s) and outbound in the evening rush hour(s) - it really is horrendous at those times.  But the other times of day you can still get on any train - I know because I do.  And the only people that like it are taxi drivers?  Well then why is it so busy?

 

And by the way the Red line under construction will serve Don Muang and connect with Bang Sue.  Eventually the Airport link is supposed to connect to that too.

 

What a strange post, even for TV.

[NoBrainer]

18 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

 

What on earth are you talking about?  If you had been on it you would know that it IS dual track all the way.  This is quite obvious because 1) you can see two tracks, and 2) you pass trains going in the opposite direction.

 

I find it quite useful as an airport train because it goes to the airport.  Yes it is way too crowded inbound in the morning rush hour(s) and outbound in the evening rush hour(s) - it really is horrendous at those times.  But the other times of day you can still get on any train - I know because I do.  And the only people that like it are taxi drivers?  Well then why is it so busy?

 

And by the way the Red line under construction will serve Don Muang and connect with Bang Sue.  Eventually the Airport link is supposed to connect to that too.

 

What a strange post, even for TV.

 

I will have a good look out the window next time I am on the train. As far as what I have read, there are 2 tracks, but one is the city line, and the other is the Express line, & the Express line does not feed every station. There also to here the trans can pass, but other points where the line is used in both directions.

 

 

"there are two distinct Express Services: one to/from Phaya Thai with a 60-minute headway; and one to/from Makkasan Terminal also with a 60-minute headway. This is due to a design flaw in the original laying of the rail which meant that the Express Line track terminates at Makkasan and does not connect with the City Line track which run on the outer side of the Express line, to Phaya Thai. The SRT allocated 17m baht in Feb 2012 to rectify this problem.^[10] As of July 2014 the two tracks had not been connected."

 

"At Makkasan and Suvarnabhumi, both lines have their own tracks and platforms. At Hua Mak the express line can bypass the city line via a passing loop."

 

Whatever the Track situation is, it's a complicated mess, and hence, there is no more Airport Express, which is what is needed for Air Travelers.

 

In Hong Kong the Airport Train leaves every 15 Min & has only 2 stops before arriving at Hong Kong Island, it is fast, clean, not overcrowded & has room for peoples luggage.