New Suvarnabhumi terminal gets first unmanned train

By The Nation

 

 

The second-phase expansion of Suvarnabhumi Airport is 88 per cent complete following delivery of its first automated people mover (APM) this week, according to Airports of Thailand (AOT).

 

The first Siemens APM will first be tested before being used to transport passengers between the existing terminal building and new Satellite Terminal 1 (SAT-1), which is under construction. Siemens will deliver a total of six APM trains within this year.

 

Each APM will have two carriages with room for 210 passengers per trip or 6,000 per hour. The APM will run underground at up to 80kph, covering the 1 kilometre distance between the two terminals in less than two minutes.

 

With the structure of the new terminal now in place, work has begun on architecture, interiors, landscape, and installation of baggage handling systems, and electrical, mechanical, sanitary, and information systems, said AOT.

 

However, the impacts of Covid-19 mean the launch date of SAT-1 has been postponed from the end of this year to April, 2022.

 

AOT also forecasts that flights and passenger numbers at Suvarnabhumi Airport will recover to 2019 levels by October 2022, when the new terminal should be operational.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30391365

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-07-15

 

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I don't get the connection between covid 19 and delaying service for almost 18 months.

BTS trains run now with no social distancing, requiring only temperature upon station entry. Same can be done with APM. 

9 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

I don't get the connection between covid 19 and delaying service for almost 18 months.

BTS trains run now with no social distancing, requiring only temperature upon station entry. Same can be done with APM. 

Err?  No passengers to transport?

2 hours ago, Srikcir said:

I don't get the connection between covid 19 and delaying service for almost 18 months.

BTS trains run now with no social distancing, requiring only temperature upon station entry. Same can be done with APM. 

The satellite concourse is meant to relieve congestion in the current terminal by providing more arrival/departure gates. Since the authorities don't foresee flight volume getting back to pre-virus levels anytime in the near future, they've probably calculated that there's no point spending money to operate the new concourse if there's no operational need for the extra space.