BTS kicks off trial runs on its Gold Line monorail

[webfact]

BTS kicks off trial runs on its Gold Line monorail

By The Nation

 

 

Now that all three driverless trains for the BTS Gold Light Rail Line have been delivered, trials on the 1.8-kilometre route will begin immediately before the service is officially launched on October 29.

 

The monorail will stop at three stations – Krung Thonburi, Charoen Nakhon and Klong San – before linking up with the BTS Green Line.

 

Constructed on a public-private partnership basis, the aim of the monorail is to make it easier for residents in Bangkok’s Thonburi district to travel to downtown as well as to places like Iconsiam.

 

 

The unmanned Bombardier Innovia APM 300 trains can reach a maximum speed of 80 kilometres per hour.

 

Commuters can use the service for free until October 29, after which rides on the Gold Line will cost Bt16 per person.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30393430

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-08-24

 

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[Bobobirdiebuddy]

How about a map..

[vicbkk]

7 minutes ago, Bobobirdiebuddy said:

How about a map..

no need, it does'nt go anywhere éxcept from Icon Siam to Krung Thonburi BTS

[sprq]

1 hour ago, vicbkk said:

no need, it does'nt go anywhere éxcept from Icon Siam to Krung Thonburi BTS

So what? A map would help everybody.

[sprq]

1 hour ago, Bobobirdiebuddy said:

How about a map..

My thoughts entirely. In fact, hardly ever do Thai news reports on rail lines show maps, despite that being extremely useful and informative. 

[american2]

At a distance of only 1.7 kilometers  was it really needed?

[Andyfez]

14 hours ago, sprq said:

My thoughts entirely. In fact, hardly ever do Thai news reports on rail lines show maps, despite that being extremely useful and informative. 

That's cos most Thais can't read maps.

[tonray]

1 hour ago, american2 said:

At a distance of only 1.7 kilometers  was it really needed?

Icon Siam partners paid for 75% of it...it was a a good deal seemingly. Also makes a few stops that will serve a large population in Thonburi to get to work and will enhance commerce in that area greatly (I used to live right near there...it's a welcome addition)

[Crossy]

A post discussing moderation has been removed.

[khunjeff]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

Now that all three driverless trains for the BTS Gold Light Rail Line have been delivered, trials on the 1.8-kilometre route will begin immediately before the service is officially launched on October 29...

 

Commuters can use the service for free until October 29, after which rides on the Gold Line will cost Bt16 per person.

Very unclear from this article whether the trials currently underway are just for equipment (as would be typical for newly arrived rolling stock), or include passengers (as implied by the last paragraph).

 

16 baht also seems like a high price for a two-minute ride, especially considering that the current options for getting to Icon (shuttle bus and shuttle boat) are free - not sure why this couldn't have just been within the same fare area as the BTS, with no fare gates between the two lines at Krung Thonburi.

[khunjeff]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

The monorail will stop at three stations – Krung Thonburi, Charoen Nakhon and Klong San – before linking up with the BTS Green Line.

 

Constructed on a public-private partnership basis, the aim of the monorail is to make it easier for residents in Bangkok’s Thonburi district to travel to downtown as well as to places like Iconsiam.

More confusing reporting. The train doesn't "stop at three stations...before linking up with the BTS", it stops at three stations period, with the last one (or first one, for most passengers) having a link to the BTS.

 

And the aim of the line was not to ease travel for Thonburi residents with a line that just happens to stop at Icon - the line was proposed, planned, and built by the developers of Icon to bring people to their mall, and that was the only reason that they funded it.

 

If the Gold Line is extended as planned, and if the Purple Line is also extended as planned, then it may also serve as a useful connector in the future, but right now it's a stubby little dead-end shopping mall shuttle that incidentally serves some people living nearby.

[Toany]

It has caused 3 years of chaos while they built this line which is replacing a free bus which ran every 30 minutes from the BTS station to IconSiam.  The bus is nearly empty most of the time.  They removed the disabled lift to the BTS station for the last 3 years and made the path difficult to walk on and impossible for a wheelchair.  The passengers are not there at the moment, or the free bus would always be full. 

[Bender Rodriguez]

16 baht for 1.7 km, a bit steep

[Burma Bill]

20 hours ago, Bobobirdiebuddy said:

How about a map..

For reference:-

 

[khunjeff]

1 hour ago, Burma Bill said:

For reference:-

 

For people who aren't familiar with all the transit plans, it should be noted that station G4 doesn't yet exist, and neither do the Red and Purple lines shown on the map.

[SunsetT]

On 8/24/2020 at 10:28 AM, sprq said:

My thoughts entirely. In fact, hardly ever do Thai news reports on rail lines show maps, despite that being extremely useful and informative. 

Thats probably because most Thais cannot read maps. So they r probably not taught how to at school.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

22 hours ago, khunjeff said:

Very unclear from this article whether the trials currently underway are just for equipment (as would be typical for newly arrived rolling stock), or include passengers (as implied by the last paragraph).

 

16 baht also seems like a high price for a two-minute ride, especially considering that the current options for getting to Icon (shuttle bus and shuttle boat) are free - not sure why this couldn't have just been within the same fare area as the BTS, with no fare gates between the two lines at Krung Thonburi.

 

Last time the wife and I went to Icon Siam via BTS, the shuttle bus ride there in heavy traffic was probably about 15 minutes on the way there... And then on the way back in the early evening hour, there were no shuttle buses with available seats to be found, we we ended up walking back to the BTS line.

 

A viable mass transit shuttle between Icon Siam and the nearby BTS line would have been a considerable improvement.

 

 

 

Edited August 25, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Loles]

Very, very long trip ))))

[khunjeff]

16 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Last time the wife and I went to Icon Siam via BTS, the shuttle bus ride there in heavy traffic was probably about 15 minutes on the way there... And then on the way back in the early evening hour, there were no shuttle buses with available seats to be found, we we ended up walking back to the BTS line.

 

A viable mass transit shuttle between Icon Siam and the nearby BTS line would have been a considerable improvement.

Don't get me wrong, I'm totally in favor of any and all additional rail lines that anyone cares to build - I just wish they could have arranged to have these three extra stations integrated into the existing BTS price structure, rather than charging yet another separate fare.

 

The one time I went to Icon I took the free shuttle boat from Saphan Taksin. It was fine - and of course no traffic - but could have been problematic if the crowds had been bigger and I couldn't have gotten onto the first boat. So yeah, I can understand why Icon wants a more reliable way of getting people to and from their property.