Bangkok Administration considers demolishing Saphan Taksin BTS station

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BMA considers demolishing Saphan Taksin BTS station
Tanatpong Kongsai
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is looking at demolishing the Saphan Taksin Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS) station to make way for construction of a double track.

BMA Public Works Department deputy director Thaweesak Lertprapan said yesterday the agency had proposed to the Department of Rural Roads (DRR) that to avoid demolishing the station, the BMA could expand the King Taksin Bridge curve so as to use the bridge space for construction of the Skytrain double track.

The DRR then submitted a proposal with four possible solutions: Demolish the bridge curve to expand the space on the side and build more pillars underneath to support the additional weight; move the station to the middle of the bridge, but this option would lead to closure of the station for at least seven months; demolish the station and build a walkway to let commuters use the nearby Surasak station instead; take no action, which would continue delays in train service because of the need for track switching.

Thaweesak said his office initially saw the first and second choices as unlikely because pillar construction or moving of the station were both difficult, while the fourth choice of not taking any action would compromise the future transport system. Hence the office will study the third option in detail and discuss it with the deputy governor in charge before submitting the plan to the BMA governor.

Deputy Governor Amorn Kitchawengkul said that in his personal view, the best solution would be to scrap the Saphan Taksin station and build an automatic walkway for people to use the Surasak station instead. The walkway would take nine months to build, while demolishing the station would take six months, he said.

In the meantime, the BMA would build a 700-metre pedestrian "Skywalk" overpass to link the two stations, starting from the end of this year, he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/BMA-considers-demolishing-Saphan-Taksin-BTS-statio-30245637.html


-- The Nation 2014-10-17

[Wiggy]

But if they use the third option (demolish the station and people use Surasak) then the track will still be a single one, meaning delays will still occur. Or am I reading it wrong? I guess the delays would be less as trains won't be stopping at Taksin anymore though.

[pitrevie]

But if they use the third option (demolish the station and people use Surasak) then the track will still be a single one, meaning delays will still occur. Or am I reading it wrong? I guess the delays would be less as trains won't be stopping at Taksin anymore though.

I think the idea is that if they demolish the station they will then have room for a dual track, the removal of the platforms etc will give them that room and remove the bottleneck.

Does indicate that when they constructed it, forward planning wasn't much to the fore.

[Lex Talionis]

I don't know this sounds like a really bad idea to me. This is the station that people use to hook up with the water taxis. Very very busy station. Seems like a hell of a long walk from Surasak to me.

[DGS1244]

This was decided many years ago, knock down the station and make the track double lane so there are no more delays. It was even talked about as a solution to the problem before the Sky train even opened. I was involved with the fire protection in those days when they were planning the extention and it was obvious then that the station had to go. The idea was to improve the cross river ferry to transfer passengers to the station on the other side, just a reverse of what happens now.

[bud7]

The station is busy and is needed. Has anyone considered going UP? Tracks on two levels as we have at Siam.

[KIWIBATCH]

..." delays caused by track switching".....??

I use Saphan Taksin station twice a day.......the track switching "delay" is.........a horrendous unbelievable tortuous delay (joke)....of a simple small 2 or 3 minutes....<deleted>......... sounds like some snouts are itching to get into the trough by pushing for some new construction that is not needed

So a 2 or 3 minute track "switching delay" is the big issue here...really?...........

.....How about spending the money on fixing the shambles that exists at the Victory Monument BTS station.....unbelievable congestion.......ticket machines constantly not working.......1 window open at peak times for change/tickets....exiting passengers "crossing" into the flow of "incoming" passengers (due to the design and current layout)...I could go on.....but won't

rant over

[razer]

I wondered why there wasn't a double track when they opened the extension of the BTS line. Just fiured it was Thai thinking, like not adding trains to handle the increase in commuters. There isn't much foward thinking in public sector services.

[bkkjames]

I use this station daily. The delays are caused by unloading and loading at chong nonsi, Silom, krungthonburi stations due to overcrowding.

[Local Drunk]

It should have been done before they ever linked to the other side of the river... no matter how they try to fix it now, it will be a nightmare.

[Local Drunk]

I wondered why there wasn't a double track when they opened the extension of the BTS line. Just fiured it was Thai thinking, like not adding trains to handle the increase in commuters. There isn't much foward thinking in public sector services.

I agree you and I guess we were posting about the same time. It was an incredibility short sighted thing to not do.

[Tuk Dua]

Why change anything . The delays outside the station are tolerable, 3 minutes at most, even during rush hours. This may change when the new lines open and put more passengers onto the Silom line (as at Bang Wa), but additional carriages on existing routes could solve this concern.

[Estrada]

But if they use the third option (demolish the station and people use Surasak) then the track will still be a single one, meaning delays will still occur. Or am I reading it wrong? I guess the delays would be less as trains won't be stopping at Taksin anymore though.

I think the idea is that if they demolish the station they will then have room for a dual track, the removal of the platforms etc will give them that room and remove the bottleneck.

Does indicate that when they constructed it, forward planning wasn't much to the fore.

The problem occured because the BMA in the past, tried to save cost and not widen/strengthen the bridge. The idea of demolishing the station is not to have room for a double track as the bridge is still only capable of accomodating a single track. The reason for demolishing the station is so that the train does not stop for in the single track section and therefore they can run more trains per hour on the line which will relieve the overcrowding on that section and improve train frequency.

The fact that they are considering widening and strengthening of the bridge is hopeful, but I am not holding my breath as I have been following the saga for over 20 years.

[Eaglekott]

But if they use the third option (demolish the station and people use Surasak) then the track will still be a single one, meaning delays will still occur. Or am I reading it wrong? I guess the delays would be less as trains won't be stopping at Taksin anymore though.

Im not sure that the third option actually means demolish the whole station, Maybe just the platform where all people is standing and waiting today.

If you look at the tracks it seems like they planned to have dual track and no platform at that location.

I also believe I've heard that the station was meant to be a temporary station, but became so popular.

[Eaglekott]

Why change anything . The delays outside the station are tolerable, 3 minutes at most, even during rush hours. This may change when the new lines open and put more passengers onto the Silom line (as at Bang Wa), but additional carriages on existing routes could solve this concern.

I think they are planning a little for the future, If you look on the maps how they are planning the new SkyTrain routes there might be many many more people travailing on Silom-line to get to Sukhumvit-line. There will be connecting stations further down the track.

And a few minutes stall is ok today, but what if they need twice as many trains to handle the all the people?

[Eaglekott]

I wondered why there wasn't a double track when they opened the extension of the BTS line. Just fiured it was Thai thinking, like not adding trains to handle the increase in commuters. There isn't much foward thinking in public sector services.

I agree you and I guess we were posting about the same time. It was an incredibility short sighted thing to not do.

As I understand it was not meant to be a station there at all, it was only supposed to be temporary during the construction, but the station became so polar they didn't wanna remove it.

Look at the tracks in the beginning and the end if the platform, it looks like it is prepared for dual track the whole way and no platform.

[utalkin2me]

They have been "considering" this for ages. Just do it or don't.

[mike324]

Why change anything . The delays outside the station are tolerable, 3 minutes at most, even during rush hours. This may change when the new lines open and put more passengers onto the Silom line (as at Bang Wa), but additional carriages on existing routes could solve this concern.

I agree, I don't see whats the fuss about a 2-3 minute delay, and it does not happen every single time. It would be more efficient if they have more coin exchange machines so people don't have to line up at counters to get coins. They also need more ticketing machines and more efficient layout.

[bkkjames]

Get rid of the two shops at asok station that could easily free up room for 6 more sorely needed turnstiles would be a good start.

[Denim]

One things for sure, if they demolish it and build something new it won't be called New Saphan Taksin as even though this does not refer to Thaksin they will probably play safe and call it ' Saphan Prayuth '

[Time Traveller]

Or they could leave it as it is.

Anything to do with BTS contruction will take at least 10 years to be completed before it it opened.

[rak sa_ngop]

But if they use the third option (demolish the station and people use Surasak) then the track will still be a single one, meaning delays will still occur. Or am I reading it wrong? I guess the delays would be less as trains won't be stopping at Taksin anymore though.

I think the idea is that if they demolish the station they will then have room for a dual track, the removal of the platforms etc will give them that room and remove the bottleneck.

Does indicate that when they constructed it, forward planning wasn't much to the fore.

The problem occured because the BMA in the past, tried to save cost and not widen/strengthen the bridge. The idea of demolishing the station is not to have room for a double track as the bridge is still only capable of accomodating a single track. The reason for demolishing the station is so that the train does not stop for in the single track section and therefore they can run more trains per hour on the line which will relieve the overcrowding on that section and improve train frequency.

The fact that they are considering widening and strengthening of the bridge is hopeful, but I am not holding my breath as I have been following the saga for over 20 years.

Strange! Last time I looked there were two tracks across the bridge.

Has one disappeared?

[billd766]

But if they use the third option (demolish the station and people use Surasak) then the track will still be a single one, meaning delays will still occur. Or am I reading it wrong? I guess the delays would be less as trains won't be stopping at Taksin anymore though.

I think the idea is that if they demolish the station they will then have room for a dual track, the removal of the platforms etc will give them that room and remove the bottleneck.

Does indicate that when they constructed it, forward planning wasn't much to the fore.

When they built the BTS back in the 1990s Saphan Taksin was the last station on the line and I suppose nobody gave any thought to the expansion of the network at the time.

[bkkjames]

It would seem par for the course to get rid of a station that seamlessly connects thousands of boat commuters and tourists and make them walk 700 meters to Surasak

Edited October 17, 2014 by bkkjames

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

We have some experts here on these subjects, and I'm not one of them.

But if I remember right from past explanations on this, it's not the current minute delays at ST that are the issue as much as that the current setup and associated delays pretty much prevents the BTS from being able to increase train frequencies on the route there, limiting their ability to accommodate increased line ridership for the future that would come as more and more stations are built on the system.

Don't take that, however, to mean that I'm happy at the prospect of everyone potentially needing to take a 700-900 meter powered walkway system to get from Surasak Station to the Chaophraya River and related connection points there. There ought to be some kind of BTS station at the river that connects to transit there.

Edited October 17, 2014 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Fab5BKK]

What's about using a BTS / Rabbit smartcard? No anymore need for coins...

That'll solve your problem

Why change anything . The delays outside the station are tolerable, 3 minutes at most, even during rush hours. This may change when the new lines open and put more passengers onto the Silom line (as at Bang Wa), but additional carriages on existing routes could solve this concern.

I agree, I don't see whats the fuss about a 2-3 minute delay, and it does not happen every single time. It would be more efficient if they have more coin exchange machines so people don't have to line up at counters to get coins. They also need more ticketing machines and more efficient layout.

[mike324]

What's about using a BTS / Rabbit smartcard? No anymore need for coins...

That'll solve your problem

Why change anything . The delays outside the station are tolerable, 3 minutes at most, even during rush hours. This may change when the new lines open and put more passengers onto the Silom line (as at Bang Wa), but additional carriages on existing routes could solve this concern.

I agree, I don't see whats the fuss about a 2-3 minute delay, and it does not happen every single time. It would be more efficient if they have more coin exchange machines so people don't have to line up at counters to get coins. They also need more ticketing machines and more efficient layout.

I do use a rabbit card but there are lots of other locals and tourists who don't use BTS frequently and need to get coins. This mainly applies to busy stations such as Siam and Asoke

[jamiesilver]

they are only getting rid of it because of its name...

[tw25rw]

I believe it was always the intention. The station was temporary until the line was extended. Now that it has been, the station creates a major bottleneck restricting line capacity.

[tw25rw]

they are only getting rid of it because of its name...

I doubt it. It was named for one of the country's greatest and most revered leaders.