Airport Link To Close ? Per Thai Tv News

[atyclb]

Saw a tv story last night. Supposedly airport link will close in future due to financial issues. No specific closing date was given.

[maccaroni man]

That would be a real loss for the lite traveler

[sfokevin]

More likely the "15 Minute Express" train service will be discontinued as you have to sit 30 minute before it comes... And I would turn Makkasan into a Sprit House...

[kyb789]

More likely the "15 Minute Express" train service will be discontinued as you have to sit 30 minute before it comes... And I would turn Makkasan into a Sprit House...

At best. Even the snail trains you have to wait. I sat in one for 10 mintues and it didn't depart. FInally I left, grabbed a taxi, and beat the train to the airport.

[SunsetT]

More likely the "15 Minute Express" train service will be discontinued as you have to sit 30 minute before it comes... And I would turn Makkasan into a Sprit House...

At best. Even the snail trains you have to wait. I sat in one for 10 mintues and it didn't depart. FInally I left, grabbed a taxi, and beat the train to the airport.

From where? ....and at what time of day?

[Crossy]

I thought the ARL was the only part of SRT to actually make money, or at least cover its operating costs.

Let's try this in the Swampy forum.

[Xonax]

Not a big surprise. The Airport Link is impossible to find for arriving tourists and unless you stay in walking distance from Makkasan (who does?) not convenient to use. The involved politicians have already lined their pockets from the construction, which was the only reason to build this damn thing, so better close it and construct something else.

[thaicbr]

I thought the Airport link operating company was closing and the service merging with the sky train operation. But I may be wrong.

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE Q6

[brewsterbudgen]

The City Line certainly won't close. It's packed with commuters during the rush hour. Losing the Express Line would be no loss.

[lomatopo]

Not sure as the OP hasn't shared a lot of details but there are (more than) a few things going on with SARL:

1.) Once the walkway/escalator (aka: viaduct) between Makkasan and Petchaburi MRT is completed there is rumbling that the SARL Express will only run between Makkasan and Suvarnbhumi, maybe on 40 minute headways, rather than running two separate and distinct Express trains services between Phaya Thai and Suvarnabhumi and Makkasan and Suvarnabhumi on the current 60 minute headways. So, in essence the Phaya Thai <-> Suvarnabhumi Express train may "close". This walkway may be completed this month (June, 2013), but who knows for sure.

2.) The SRT is trying to regain control of the SRTET, the separate subsidiary which operates the SARL. So there is a lot of jockeying going on, and probably a fair amount of interested parties spinning their stories in the press.

I had thought the plan was to re-configure the tracks west of Makkasan to allow one single Express train to stop at both Makkasan and Phaya Thai, but not sure what has happened with that plan?

Edited June 6, 2013 by lomatopo

[Tomtomtom69]

SunsetT, on 06 Jun 2013 - 01:05, said:

kyb789, on 05 Jun 2013 - 23:25, said:

sfokevin, on 05 Jun 2013 - 21:56, said:

More likely the "15 Minute Express" train service will be discontinued as you have to sit 30 minute before it comes... And I would turn Makkasan into a Sprit House...

At best. Even the snail trains you have to wait. I sat in one for 10 mintues and it didn't depart. FInally I left, grabbed a taxi, and beat the train to the airport.

From where? ....and at what time of day?

I'm surprised you could ever beat the train to the airport by catching a cab. Not to mention that cab drivers anywhere near a skytrain station will be grumpy and reluctant to take you and ask why you aren't catching the train but it can take 2-3 hours during heavy traffic to reach the airport from Phayathai station by road. Although usually it only takes about an hour - I would have waited for the train to depart. Given you already paid, this was a waste of money, but hey who am I to judge your spending habits.

[Crossy]

Please continue in this thread http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/369458-airport-rail-link-again-sorry/?p=6479404