Suvarnabhumi Airport Link Opening Postponed For 3 Months

[webfact]

Airport Link opening postponed

BANGKOK (NNT) -- The Airport Link will not be finished in time for opening in April as planned, according to the Transport Minister, while the contractor firm will be fined 17 million THB due to the delay.

Updating on the Airport Link progress, Transport Minister Sopon Zarum said the work on the electronic system, the CCTV system, and the radio system, under the responsibility of Siemens company, have not been completed according to the term of reference specified.

The entire system is 80% complete but it will not be in time for the planned opening this April. The train cannot be operated commercially until it has received safety standard verification from the independent consulting engineer which should take at least 3 months. The Minister said, however, test runs will be carried out as scheduled.

The contractor Siemens company has to pay at least 17 million THB to the state for failing to meet the deadline and the requirement in the TOR.

-- NNT 2010-03-05

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[Myaimistrue]

Now, there's a surprise!

[geriatrickid]

Well, Elvis nice of you to take time off for your great Bravo interview program and state the obvious

I think fines were factored into the cost of the project.

[TerraPosse]

Well, Elvis nice of you to take time off for your great Bravo interview program and state the obvious

I think fines were factored into the cost of the project.

But at that exchange rate to the Euro?

[Pib]

Wouldn't surprise me if the contract "fine print/devil-in-the-details" allows Siemens to appeal/escape the fine...probably due to Siemens claiming something uncontrollable like the weather; Thai govt failure to approve something on-time; a Red Shirt, Yellow Shirt, or XYZ Color Shirt protest(s); and/or Etc; preventing Siemens from completing within contract defined times. Plus, Siemens probably cranked in a few expected delays/fines into their contract winning bid.

[anotherpeter]

Now, there's a surprise!

I was going to say exactly that! You beat me to it.

[Netfan]

This is no surprise to those of us who live / work out this way. We've been hearing August for a couple of months.

Edited March 5, 2010 by Netfan

[rfukata]

typical of any project here. I would think the new August date is still premature considering all the uncertainties and variables.

[goldfinger]

peanuts for Siemens, i think so.

[Basil B]

17M THB (£350K/$500K), that seems like Pea Nuts, maybe it is per day.

[shawndoc]

Interesting, Siemens has a lot of experience with projects like this, and are usually quite good at hitting milestones/deadlines. Would be interesting to hear what they blame the delays on.

[bdenner]

Interesting, Siemens has a lot of experience with projects like this, and are usually quite good at hitting milestones/deadlines. Would be interesting to hear what they blame the delays on.

Agreed!

Time lost counting the 'Hoops' to be jumped through!

Never ending 'Moving Goal Posts'!

Thailand just being Thailand!

etc.

Maybe their only mistake was not asking a long term retiree about the bullshlt he has to go through when dealing with the Thai Government and then contracting for additional time to compensate.

[Phatcharanan]

Yeah, like big projects in Europe always finished on time...............I don't think.

[NanLaew]

Yes, the longer it takes to get this completed, it can be used by the PM in his lame 'second airport' argument with IATA. AoT have already scaled back their plans for a new domestic terminal and new runway at Suvarnabhumi to adding just a satellite terminal.

Keeps alive the military's dwindling hopes of a gravy train from their "northern Bangkok golf course with runways".

[virtualtraveller]

Hey why blockade an airport when you just screw it up instead, an AOT are scratching their heads wondering why Suvarnabhumi isn't top 10. How long has this airport been open.

Never mind, the Red Shirts are going to scare away all the tourists for the next few months, so what's a few months further delay to the delay.

[apetley]

Yeah, like big projects in Europe always finished on time...............I don't think.

Yes projects do get delayed elsewhere but are you seriously suggesting that in Europe a major international airport would be opened years before the vital rail link for passengers?

[apetley]

This is no surprise to those of us who live / work out this way. We've been hearing August for a couple of months.

It has been widespread knowledge that the link would not be opening on time for over a year now.

Do not be surprised to see a 'Grand Opening' on December 5th this year, as opposed to that scheduled for His Majesties last birthday.

[johndpoole]

Yeah, like big projects in Europe always finished on time...............I don't think.

Yes projects do get delayed elsewhere but are you seriously suggesting that in Europe a major international airport would be opened years before the vital rail link for passengers?

Sounds like building "bridges to nowhere"

The new rail is an added benefit and not something that is currently needed. There timing seems fine and it is the norm for any government projects to come in over budget and late ... let alone a project of this magnitude.

[ratcatcher]

Yeah, like big projects in Europe always finished on time...............I don't think.

Yes projects do get delayed elsewhere but are you seriously suggesting that in Europe a major international airport would be opened years before the vital rail link for passengers?

Well. probably not in this day and age, but Heathrow (LHR) was opened long before the Piccadilly Line (1977) was extended to the terminal. But then again, Britain in the 1960's and 1970's was years ahead of you know where.

[NanLaew]

Yeah, like big projects in Europe always finished on time...............I don't think.

Yes projects do get delayed elsewhere but are you seriously suggesting that in Europe a major international airport would be opened years before the vital rail link for passengers?

Well. probably not in this day and age, but Heathrow (LHR) was opened long before the Piccadilly Line (1977) was extended to the terminal. But then again, Britain in the 1960's and 1970's was years ahead of you know where.

And Gatwick was the first airport in the world to have a mainline railway terminus.

Regrettably it was a German design consultancy that built Suvarnabhumi... it was 27 years before Frankfurt airport could boast a railroad connection.

[rainman]

Interesting, Siemens has a lot of experience with projects like this, and are usually quite good at hitting milestones/deadlines. Would be interesting to hear what they blame the delays on.

Thai bureaucracy. Carefully scheduled so that Siemens misses the deadline and that way they save 17 million Baht.

Edited March 6, 2010 by rainman

[phetaroi]

typical of any project here. I would think the new August date is still premature considering all the uncertainties and variables.

Or is it typical of most large-scale projects in most places in the world?

[phetaroi]

Yeah, like big projects in Europe always finished on time...............I don't think.

Yes projects do get delayed elsewhere but are you seriously suggesting that in Europe a major international airport would be opened years before the vital rail link for passengers?

I don't know about Europe, but I remember the Denver, Colorado airport fiasco. As a reminder: "As expected, Mayor Wellington Webb announced today that the new Denver International Airport, already six months late and more than $1 billion over budget, will not open on May 15, missing its fourth deadline.

But officials have found a sure-fire way to avoid blowing another deadline: they will not set one.

"I won't hazard a guess," Mayor Webb said at a crowded City Hall news conference today.

A malfunctioning baggage sorting system has been blamed for the delay, and the Mayor said the city will hire a technical inspector to review the $193 million system, supposedly the most sophisticated of its kind."

Ah well, TID.

Oh, and then there's the rail link to Dulles International Airport -- now the main airport for the American capital. Let's see...that opened in the early 1960s, and the vital rail link is projected to be completed in 2016. Ah well, TIA.

Edited March 6, 2010 by phetaroi

[mahtin]

Siemens agreed to pay a record $1.34 billion in fines in December 2008^[25] after being investigated for serious bribery, involving Heinz-Joachim Neubürger, former chief financial officer, Karl-Hermann Baumann, another former CFO and exchairman, and Johannes Feldmayer, a former management board member.^[26] The investigation found questionable payments of roughly €1.3 billion, from 2002 to 2006 that triggered a broad range of inquiries in Germany, the United States and many other countries.^[27]

In May 2007 a German court convicted two former executives of paying about €6 million in bribes from 1999 to 2002 to help Siemens win natural gas turbine supply contracts with Enel, an Italian energy company. The contracts were valued at about €450 million. Siemens was fined €38 million.^[28]

Siemens has tightened its internal controls, and implemented strict compliance and anti-corruption measures throughout the company.^{[citation needed]}

^{http://www.answers.com/topic/siemens-ag}

^{This is Germany...}