Skytrain delays till year-end: operator

[webfact]

Skytrain delays till year-end: operator

By THE NATION

 

 

Rushhour glitch brings commuter misery.

 

BANGKOK’S Skytrain is facing a growing number of complaints from city-dwellers and visitors over breakdowns and extended delays the operator says might not be solved until year-end.

 

Transport Minister Arkhom Termpitayapaisit yesterday said he had asked representatives from Bangkok Transit System plc (BTSC) to clarify the situation.

 

Anat Arbhabhirama, director and advisor of BTSC, said the problem has been caused by radio frequency interference in the BTS train management system, especially at the busy Siam station.

 

Since the start of this year, there have been a total of 27 breakdowns and extended delays on the BTS system, which handles more than 900,000 passengers per day, with yesterday’s delays lasting more than four hours in the morning rush-hour and affecting tens of thousands of passengers. There have been as many as eight delays this month alone.

 

 

However, Anat said the current BTS service still has a very high standard of service when delays lasting more than five minutes are taken into consideration, achieving 99.5 per cent of its target for punctuality.

 

The company is in the process of installing a new radio communication system for Siam and other stations. It will be fully protected from interference but won’t be completed until later this year, Anat said.

 

The repeating problems have been caused by interference from other nearby radio frequencies, including those used by mobile phone operators in business and tourist districts, he said. The company has only two options: to shut down the entire sys?tem or to switch off the automatic train management system and operate the trains manually.

 

Once trains are manually managed, service frequencies have to be reduced sharply, resulting in extended delays and long queues of passengers spilling on to streets at some stations.

 

 

Anat said the overall signalling sys?tem will be much more stable later this year when the extended Bearing-Samut Prakan route becomes operational.

 

Transport minister Arkhom said the company, which operates the BTS service under a concession from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, needs to solve its problems quickly to avoid a further impact on the commuting public.

 

Yesterday, the BTS’s extended delays started around 6am, with passengers stranded on the entire Skytrain network due to a signal malfunctioning at Siam station at the worst possible time of the week – Monday rush hour. 

 

The knock-on effect caused trains on the Sukhumvit route to slow. BTS broadcast a message to waiting passengers that technicians were trying to fix the problem as soon as possible. 

 

A follow-up message 35 minutes later, at 6.50am, said the signal system had malfunctioned on both the Silom and Sukhumvit routes, meaning trains would be delayed by 15 minutes.

 

At 8.15am, BTS said the signal system on both the Silom and Sukhumvit lines was still faulty, causing the trains to move slowly – and reiterated that technicians were still trying to fix the problem.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30348600

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-26

[ChrisY1]

It seems that they've known about this issue for some time....these things don't just happen, and likely they've patched the issue to keep things going.....unfortunately, now it's worse and the possibility of 6 more months before completely solved, seems outrageous.

[johng]

Isn't there some government organ that is supposed to regulate and enforce radio frequency alocations and deal with interference issues ?

[ksamuiguy]

A rush to start, same as all projects, never completed or tested before put in operation. Than completion and testing forgotten about. Projects forced open even though not completed is the norm here. I foresee a complete failure of the transportation system in the very near future! 

 

[mtls2005]

4 minutes ago, johng said:

Isn't there some government organ that is supposed to regulate and enforce radio frequency alocations and deal with interference issues ?

 

NBTC.

 

That said, if the "government", ISOC and/or military junta has installed some new equipment then the NBTC or BTSC really doesn't have much "authority"?

 

Hopefully, it's not the new TOT/DTAC Turbo 2300 MHz mobile network, but I guess I wouldn't be shocked to hear that the BTSs' wireless signaling system uses public WiFi (2.4 GHz).

[shady86]

Great. A normal 10 mins journey will take 1 hr from now. Might as well operate manually.

[klauskunkel]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

the problem has been caused by radio frequency interference

looks like there is also a problem with brainwave interference when announcing delays:

1st message at 6:15am: We have a problem

2nd message at 6:50am: Trains would be delayed by 15 minutes

3rd message at 7:15 am: Delay would be cut to 10 minutes.

An hour later, BTS said the signal system on both the Silom and Sukhumvit lines was still faulty and said technicians were still trying to fix the problem.

 

Don't announce a delay of 10-15 minutes to people who have been waiting for 2 hours already, it's really silly.

 

 

[webfact]

Commuters hit with more BTS skytrain delays

By The Nation

 

 

BTS passengers suffered more delays on Tuesday morning.
 

At 6.15am Bangkok Transit System plc (BTSC) announced on its Twitter page that there was a system malfunctioned between the Chong Nonsee and Surasak stations and trains would be delayed by 10 minutes.

 

Then at 6.26am, BTSC announced again that there was a problem with communication signals used to control its train management system for both Sukhumvit and Silom lines, causing trains to be delayed by about 10 minutes.

 

At 6.52am, BTSC announced the communications signal problem has been fixed on both routes. But at 7.18am it announced that the Silom line had developed signal problems again and trains could be delayed by 10 minutes.

 

On Monday, a problem related to interference in communications signals caused delays in many routes during the morning rush hour, prompting large crowds at all stations.

 

Anat Arbhabhirama, director and adviser of BTSC, said on Monday that the problem has been caused by radio frequency interference, especially at the busy Siam station.

 

Anat said the overall signalling system will be much more stable later this year when the extended Bearing-Samut Prakan route becomes operational.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30348633

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-26

[webfact]

UPDATE:

 

DTAC denies its mobile signals interfere with BTS skytrain's traffic control system

By The Nation

 

FILE photo//Wikipedia

 

Total Access Communications (DTAC) has denied that its mobile frequency band has interfered with the automatic traffic management system of the BTS skytrain.

 

Full story:  https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/1044966-dtac-denies-its-mobile-signals-interfere-with-bts-skytrains-traffic-control-system/

[rodknock]

tuesday 26/06/18 am

good old skytrain busted again!!!

do these so called technicians have a clue what they are doing????

[Cadbury]

52 minutes ago, webfact said:

DTAC denies its mobile signals interfere with BTS skytrain's

What a shambles this has turned out to be. Seems the blame game has started.

If PM Prayut were here this would never have happened. And it had he would have fixed it no time; just like he did the lotteries and the pavements and everything else.

See what happens when he goes away? The place fall to pieces.

[Thian]

36 minutes ago, rodknock said:

tuesday 26/06/18 am

good old skytrain busted again!!!

do these so called technicians have a clue what they are doing????

Obviously not!

 

Why not build it all back to how it worked well? This is absolutely the last thing BKK needs.

 

My wife has courses in the citycentre and even went in a hotel because of the huge traveltime in BKK. Now she still can't go to her course in time.

[hotchilli]

I traveled yesterday from Bang Wa BTS via Siam to Mo Chit

took me 2 hours, slow moving with huge crowds and with a delay at almost every station along the way !!!

I started at Bang Wa 08:00 arrived Mo Chit 10:00

[Jonmarleesco]

'However, Anat said the current BTSservice still has a very high standard ofservice ...'

 

Was that from the horse's mouth, or that of the passengers? An A__hole in cuckoo land.

 

And to think a previous BMA governor corruptly awarded this bunch of cretins the contract renewal without so much as a nod at a bidding process.

 

[Jonmarleesco]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Anat said the overall signalling system will be much more stable later this year when the extended Bearing-Samut Prakan route becomes operational.

Really? And why should that be? 

[mtls2005]

45 minutes ago, Jonmarleesco said:

Really? And why should that be? 

 

Extra amulets ordered for existing and new trains.

[newnative]

     And, when you finally get on a train it's way overcrowded because there are not nearly enough train cars to handle the current, let alone the future, passengers.  Apparently nobody involved with the system has taken note of all the huge condos that have been built and are being built next to the stations.  I give a grade of D+.

[Thaidream]

A grade of F for Failure is more like it. BTS was ordered  years ago to make all their stations accessible to the disabled- they have not. Now, they can't even make the system available to anyone.  

 

The company needs to be stripped of the contract; fined for non performance and the contract awarded to a professionally run organization. Simply horrid service.

[webfact]

SkyTrain system to be fully functional by Friday

 

 

BANGKOK, 26th June 2018 (NNT) - Bangkok Mass Transit System Co Ltd's (BTSC) CEO Surapong Laoha-Unya has conveyed his apologies to BTS Sky Train passengers, saying the system will be restored by Friday. 

Despite his positive outlook, CEO Surapong said he was not 100% certain the problem would not occur again, although he believed the ride would now be smoother. 

BTS Skytrains have been delayed by at least 10 minutes since the beginning of this month following multiple system failures. Upset Bangkokians have taken to Twitter saying they want the concession contract of the company that runs the Skytrain system terminated. 

According to Surapong, passengers can request a full refund on tickets they have purchased if they no longer wish to use Skytrain services. The CEO later said no other forms of compensation would be offered to passengers for the time being. 

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith has instructed Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) to provide more public buses for people on Sukhumvit Road during peak hours while the Skytrain system is being fixed. The BTSC CEO has also met with the Transport Minister to discuss the matter.

 

-- nnt 2018-06-26

[honu]

I was stuck in that queue for the last two days and it wasn't quite that bad there (getting on at Victory monument, off at Chong Nonsi, so transferring at Siam station).  It probably took 45 minutes longer than usual the first day and a half an hour extra the second.  But I could have easily been at that station an extra hour, or more.  Passengers tend to not think about taking the stairs instead of the escalator up to the platform level, even though there was a huge queue there versus not much at all on the two stairs up (they stopped people at the bottom when the top level was full).

 

Given how hit and miss the operations were for the BTS some years ago it's been nice that it's seemed to work well for a few years now.  The system is a little crowded but somehow that just seems normal.  There is an odd exception:  there's a queue to get on the BTS at Chong Nonsi every rush hour between 5:30 and 6:30, an extra 15 minute wait as lines stretch way back onto the pedestrian walkway area there.  I'm not sure why they can't get that sorted out.

[MaxLee]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

Skytrain delays till year-end: operator

 

[klauskunkel]

46 minutes ago, webfact said:

Bangkok Mass Transit System Co Ltd's (BTSC) CEO Surapong Laoha-Unya has conveyed his apologies to BTS Sky Train passengers, saying the system will be restored by Friday

..., until then he will join the monkhood and pray for the trains, which will thereafter give out lucky numbers for the lottery

[MaxLee]

And besides,.... we suffer from serious break failures, which causes a ruckus inside the trains.........

[notasmartassknowitallfarag]

Can someone please advise me? 

 

I am starting a new job in BKK in a month. My work is close enough to the Victory Monument area. 

 

I was thinking of renting near Thong Lor or Ekkamai. I would probably get the BTS at around 6:30 am and return around 4:00 pm.

 

Is it madness to live further away from work and rely on that BTS service? 

 

[Sydebolle]

Call me cynical but who benefits from these delays? Anyone bidding for additional rolling stock, new computer systems or radio equipment (wondering what these radios are used for as much bigger rail systems in other capitals run smooth without "radio" glitches). Is it possibly go-slow to communicate a long-overdue salary increase or so? 

Just asking ........ as the story of the radio frequency is difficult to follow since they do not communicate on the same bandwidth ! 

[MaxLee]

9 minutes ago, notasmartassknowitallfarag said:

Can someone please advise me? 

 

I am starting a new job in BKK in a month. My work is close enough to the Victory Monument area. 

 

I was thinking of renting near Thong Lor or Ekkamai. I would probably get the BTS at around 6:30 am and return around 4:00 pm.

 

Is it madness to live further away from work and rely on that BTS service? 

 

 

It's more time consuming than ever as you can read,....

[barefootbangkok]

Although it's inconvenient, it's good to see that the operators are making sure that the BTS is running safely.  One collision would means hundreds of lives. Long delays are inconvenient but safety should always come first.

[edwinchester]

Is this the same guy who only yesterday was reported as saying that the system wouldn't be fixed until the end of the year?

[mtls2005]

From the BTS Twitter account...

 

16.30 due to mandate signal in Sukhumvit line and Silom line still crashes, some trains are moving at low speeds and parked at a station longer than usual. Please allow the time to travel. We apologize for the inconvenience.

 

 

[dudopode]

So now they operate the traffic manually... As in ... a man is in charge of this and not a machine...

Ok I ll go by motorbike now. It will be much safer.