Bangkok's Public Transport Struggles On Despite Floods

[webfact]

Bangkok's public transport struggles on despite floods

The centre of Bangkok looks to have escaped the worst of the flooding that has hit other parts of Thailand.

However, the city remains on high alert with both the MRT underground rail system and BTS Sky Train overhead railway important considerations in the event of any future evacuation.

For the past two weeks, Frank Barthel has virtually been living in his Bangkok office, sleeping on a rolled-out mattress beside his desk.

The civil engineer works for German multinational Siemens AG and is responsible for ensuring that the Sky Train system built by his company continues to operate even during the disastrous floods currently engulfing the country.

The floodwaters are a threat to the country’s entire public transport system and Barthel wants to be ready to deal immediately with any emergency to hit his depot.

"A new flood wave is expected to make its way here from the north next week. If the large sandbag defensive wall built five kilometres to the north doesn’t hold, then the water levels here could rise by a metre," he says.

Any substantial increase in the amount of floodwater would make the situation critical at the electrical substation, where the power supply is distributed to the train network.

"If the electricity supply fails, then nothing is possible anymore," says Barthel.

The substation is located at the depot beside the BTS terminus station Mo Chit in north Bangkok, where Siemens maintains the trains.

It’s already affected by the flood, with the car park, for example, lying under 30 centimetres of water. The entrance to the electricity substation has been closed off with sandbags that reach chest height while the walls around the facility have also been strengthened with extra sandbags.

In case the flood defences do fail, there’s a plastic boat complete with paddles parked on what is currently dry ground. "If the city centre is underwater, then this will be perhaps the only remaining functioning mode of transport," says Barthel.

The Sky Train has been in operation in Bangkok since 1999 and runs between 12 and 30 metres above the streets of Bangkok. It is operated by the Thai company BTSC while Siemens is responsible for the trains and the entire rail system.

Around 540,000 of the city’s population of 12 million use the Sky Train each day.

The system’s two lines run a total length of 30 kilometres and are serviced by 35 trains.

Barthel is currently on red alert, well aware that the sandbag wall at the depot entrance is the decisive defensive line.

Water pumps are already keeping the waste water pipes free of any obstruction, and access roads are already flooded, but still passable by workers in their small vans.

"However, if the water reaches this defensive wall, then we will be in full crisis management mode," Barthel says, pointing out that the depot would then be cut off from the outside world.

"Protecting the substation would then be our most important task," adds Barthel, who in recent weeks has already had the most important spare parts transferred from the building’s cellar to rooms on the upper floors.

No one knows when or even if the flood wave from the north will arrive. The people of Bangkok have been complaining bitterly at the poor and often chaotic information being given by the authorities.

Rumours abound that dams in central Thailand will have to be opened once again in order to relieve some of the water pressure that has built up but none of this has been confirmed officially.

Even companies living in fear of a new flood wave are desperately seeking reliable information about the current situation.

Unlike the situation with the Sky Train, the MRT train system’s substation is not in danger of flooding as it located three metres above ground.

"We can keep running even though some of the stations have to remain closed," says Kaviphat Nuttavuthisit, a maintenance manager for Siemens, which built the system that opened in 2004.

Four of the 20 stations are situated on flooded streets. When the waters reach the second step of a station entrance, then the alarm is raised and if the level rises any further then the entrance is barricaded shut.

However, Kaviphat has ruled out any larger amount of flooding in the tunnels.

"It will only stop making sense for the trains to run when people are no longer able to make it to the stations," he says.

Everything is in place to try and ensure both the Sky Train and the MRT stay open. There is enough food and drinking water stockpiled at both depots to last 20 people up to weeks. There are also large dormitories where workers whose homes are flooded can sleep.

Barthel’s temporary accommodation, however, looks far from comfortable.

"It could be worse," he says, putting a brave face on things.

-- The Nation 2011-11-15

[robblok]

"A new flood wave is expected to make its way here from the north next week. If the large sandbag defensive wall built five kilometres to the north doesn’t hold, then the water levels here could rise by a metre," he says.

I havent heard about this does anyone know what he means ?

[goldfinger]

maybe , the interview was made 4 weeks ago.........

[robblok]

maybe , the interview was made 4 weeks ago.........

Could be because i havent heard anything about an other wave cant find it anywhere.

[Hooters]

maybe , the interview was made 4 weeks ago.........

Could be because i havent heard anything about an other wave cant find it anywhere.

I think he is referring to the next high tide

[robblok]

maybe , the interview was made 4 weeks ago.........

Could be because i havent heard anything about an other wave cant find it anywhere.

I think he is referring to the next high tide

Id say flood waves come from the south not the north.

[whybother]

No one knows when or even if the flood wave from the north will arrive.

But lets just panic everyone anyway.

The government will make an announcement about 2 days after this flood wave hits.

[hedonist44]

maybe , the interview was made 4 weeks ago.........

Could be because i havent heard anything about an other wave cant find it anywhere.

I think he is referring to the next high tide

Id say flood waves come from the south not the north.

My driver told me 10 days ago that there was another serge expected to hit Bkk at the end of the month. I 've read it also in TV, but not sure which thread or news clipping it was in. But for sure, I've been hearing about it for awhile.

[metisdead]

A post with messed up quote tags has been removed.