We live very close to the Pink Line Khae Rai station and have been watching with interest as it's been being built over the years.  It's only been open less than about a month and we've tried it twice and don't like it much, of which more below.

 

This morning my wife went to the local market about 2 miles or so by van, to find when she got off crowds all staring upwards at the Pink Line track where there were workman frantically doing something aloft.  It turned out that at 4.45 this morning, a long section (like 5 kms, 3 miles) of the power ;ines supplying the systema had just well, er, fallen down.  Three cars below were damaged.

 

The line is now closed between Khae Rae al the way to Hah Yaek Pak Kret station but it still open along Chaeng Wattana to Minburi - so far.  Quite an embarrassment for whoever owns it, but not really a surprise.  

When it will be repaired and safety guaranteed, who knows?  A bit of a bummer for people in my area having to take a van or bus to Pak Kret just to get a train.  That'll hit passenger numbers, no doubt about that, because local Thais have been complaining about it since day one.  They were saying just as we discovered on our trips - it sways considerably from side to side, but not only that, it bounces up and down a lot so people are feeling sick (we did, slightly).  A smooth ride it most definitely isn't.

 

I was expecting something to go amiss after those rides and I wasn't wrong.  Roads closed in parts already.  
<Link to Bangkok Post removed per forum rules>

 

 

Thai workmanship on display yet again. Slapdash, no checks, no double checks, no safety rules, no quality control.

went on the new yellow line yesterday for the first time. what a laugh it was. 

 

the track and door don't line up. you have about a 5 or 6 inch drop from the car to the platform. then while it was in operation (driverless) it felt like it was built by a bunch of high school kids as a fun time project. horrible ride not smooth at all. 

26 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

Thai workmanship on display yet again. Slapdash, no checks, no double checks, no safety rules, no quality control.

 

There will be a ceremony to appease....or something.

49 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

Thai workmanship on display yet again. Slapdash, no checks, no double checks, no safety rules, no quality control.

To be fair to Thailand on this occasion the new London Elizabeth Line suffered a prolonged power cut a few weeks ago leaving passengers trapped for hours on a darkened train.

1 hour ago, mfd101 said:

Thai workmanship on display yet again. Slapdash, no checks, no double checks, no safety rules, no quality control.

To be accurate, I understand that most of the workers were Cambodian, but of course, supervisory and management staff would be Thai.  

It's THEY who should have their backsides kicked.

Having said that, I am wondering how they are going to manage to cover all this up.  Not a good advert for monorail systems hurried through on the cheap.  

I am reminded that when a Thai airliner had its undercarriage collapsed at Swampy, they just painted over the Thai logos (talk about head in the sand, eh?)  and then when it was serviceable a while later, there were all sorts of religious ceremonies to bless the craft and the airport.

What's the betting the same will happen on the Pink Line?

Edited December 24, 20232 yr by Irrumator

I took the pink line from Minburi most of the way and back the other day and it was fine (didn't notice any swaying or bumpiness).

Funnily enough though, at one of the stations, I was looking closely at the brackets by which the power line is attached to the concrete. There are vertical slots in the concrete every couple of metres into which are fitted brackets holding the power line, but only half of the slots had brackets. I was wondering why they had used only half the available slots (or why the concrete was constructed with twice as many slots than were needed). I guess they thought they would save some time and money on the brackets... 

Never really understood the enthusiasm for monorails! The technology for conventional "light rail" (SkyTrain, underground and airport link is proven. There must be the potential for communality both within Thailand and worldwide when it comes to the next generation of rolling stock, extensions, increasing capacity and so on, so why go for unproven unique technology when building additional routes?

52 minutes ago, Mr Derek said:

I was wondering why they had used only half the available slots

 

No doubt the money to do it properly ran out - to someone's account perhaps?

1 hour ago, beautifulthailand99 said:

To be fair to Thailand on this occasion the new London Elizabeth Line suffered a prolonged power cut a few weeks ago leaving passengers trapped for hours on a darkened train.

There you go...  Letting facts get in the way of a good Thai bash. 

 

Best to just stand aside and let 'em tell us how much smarter they are back home.  While enjoying all that Thailand has on offer.

3 hours ago, mfd101 said:

Thai workmanship on display yet again. Slapdash, no checks, no double checks, no safety rules, no quality control.

Nonsense, for such a project I think you will find that the E&M was designed, supplied, supervised, checked, implemented, tested and commisioned by some international companies.

Edited December 24, 20232 yr by freeworld

1 hour ago, herfiehandbag said:

Never really understood the enthusiasm for monorails!

They are much cheaper. 

IIRC yellow line monorail cost one sixth of what a real train would have cost. 

 

BTW 

Workers are Cambodian

Supervisors are Thai

Technology is Chinese

Payer is Thai

 

Take your pick whom to blame

28 minutes ago, impulse said:

There you go...  Letting facts get in the way of a good Thai bash. 

 

Best to just stand aside and let 'em tell us how much smarter they are back home.  While enjoying all that Thailand has on offer.

5km power lines falling down - a teething problem

A troll post meme has been removed

Please see our Community Standards

On the plus side, nobody stole the wire. And no one was killed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

59 minutes ago, Lorry said:

They are much cheaper. 

IIRC yellow line monorail cost one sixth of what a real train would have cost. 

 

BTW 

Workers are Cambodian

Supervisors are Thai

Technology is Chinese

Payer is Thai

 

Take your pick whom to blame

Technology is actually Canadian/ French.

sorry to hear your sad whinging story ....   are you from Bristol by any chance  ?

 

You will be compensated very soon as per normal procedure ....   a fruit basket is on the way

im sure they do their best

7 hours ago, freeworld said:

Technology is actually Canadian/ French

Oh.

For the yellow line, too? 

I haven't ridden the pink line yet, but I wasn't impressed by the yellow line

Hope they get it fixed. Bit of an embarrassment.

8 hours ago, Lorry said:

Oh.

For the yellow line, too? 

I haven't ridden the pink line yet, but I wasn't impressed by the yellow line

Yes both yellow and pink lines.

Edited December 25, 20232 yr by freeworld

21 hours ago, mfd101 said:

Thai workmanship on display yet again. Slapdash, no checks, no double checks, no safety rules, no quality control.

French company overseeing construction.

18 hours ago, Lorry said:

They are much cheaper. 

IIRC yellow line monorail cost one sixth of what a real train would have cost. 

 

BTW 

Workers are Cambodian

Supervisors are Thai

Technology is Chinese

Payer is Thai

 

Take your pick whom to blame

Supervisory company is French.

19 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

Never really understood the enthusiasm for monorails! The technology for conventional "light rail" (SkyTrain, underground and airport link is proven. There must be the potential for communality both within Thailand and worldwide when it comes to the next generation of rolling stock, extensions, increasing capacity and so on, so why go for unproven unique technology when building additional routes?

The MRT system has been an incredible success and with the congestion in Bangkok the monorails make perfect sense. If you look at an alternative to them, just look at the construction going on in Samut Sakorn, how long has it been? 15 years already and another 10 to 15 years to go? 

Rarely use these technological marvels of transportation, I just wish they would fix the pot holes and cracks along with lack of drains where we are, and thats in Bangkok. Drive over the bridge into Samut Prakan and the roads are first rate, some of Bangkoks are in a terrible state and falling apart.

37 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

French company overseeing construction.

Well, mmmm.

19 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

The MRT system has been an incredible success and with the congestion in Bangkok the monorails make perfect sense. If you look at an alternative to them, just look at the construction going on in Samut Sakorn, how long has it been? 15 years already and another 10 to 15 years to go? 

 

The MRT is at bursting point and unless a solution is found soon for the overcrowding there is going to be a catastrophe in my opinion.

They dumped Siemens years ago for cheap Chinese c r a p

5 hours ago, Celsius said:

They dumped Siemens years ago for cheap Chinese c r a p

Stop making stuff up. They did not and its not Chinese.

Edited December 26, 20232 yr by freeworld

16 minutes ago, freeworld said:

Stop making stuff ip. They did not and its not Chinese.

 

Oh, no. It's Bombardier.

 

As a Canadian, I confirm it's even worse.