Minister vows to find persons responsible for Airport Rail Link incident

[Eric Loh]

Very quick solution to have a solar panels installed on the roof , solar film on the windows ,

enough power to at least to enable the doors to open , if the mains trips out,

or a cheaper alternative

a large sledge hammer affixed to a panel,

There must have been life-hammers in the train i guess, i wonder why nobody (dared to) used them.

They should sue Siemens this is obviously a design fault in the system and the trains are a Siemens design

There are hammers, there are emergency door releases, there is emergency communications, there is emergency ventilation and systems that can operate for a certain time period on batteries and there is a driver on board. This has nothing to do with the design of the train. This has everything to do with the capability of the operator to operate and maintain the system to international best practice standards and this includes being able to respond quickly and safely to these kinds of incidents. Based on the outcome that capability is sadly lacking.

At last someone saying things as they are.

Nothing to do with Siemens, everything to do with SRT and their subcontractors and Airport Link maintenance and operating procedures. Lay blame where due.

Total agreement. In fact an incident as major as this should warrant a special investigating committee to review and revamp the maintenance and check regime and also financial penalties as a deterrent. Remember similar breakdown of the Singapore MRT in 2011 and the big shake down and revamping of SOP and the MRT paid almost SD2 M in penalties.

[swerver]

Very quick solution to have a solar panels installed on the roof , solar film on the windows ,

enough power to at least to enable the doors to open , if the mains trips out,

or a cheaper alternative

a large sledge hammer affixed to a panel,

There must have been life-hammers in the train i guess, i wonder why nobody (dared to) used them.

They should sue Siemens this is obviously a design fault in the system and the trains are a Siemens design

Slowdown a bit with your they're Riemens Design and charge Siemens.

Siemens designs the train as they know from past experience how it MUST be and then the buyer(s) come to haggle about the price. What are all these batteries for??? In case of power failure. We in Thailand have no power failing. So we don't need all them batteries, in addition then we also don't need the emergency system the batteries are connected to. So what is the price now??? GET THE IDEA.

Siemens also designed the Sky trains. They designed them with a motor car on each end with a trailing car in the middle. The motor cars as the name implies have the electric motors and of course the brakes. The trailing car does NOT have either. Ital Thai designed the platforms for the Siemens design of two trains coupled together during PEAK HOURS. So the station platforms lengths are for two trains (6-Cars). Thais know how to safe money so when they ordered new trains, this time from Siemens China, they also ordered extra trailing cars. The Siemens China design two motor cars with two trailing cars. What are the extra trailing cars for, oh for the Siemens German build trains, we just put one more trailing car between the two motor cars. Are the German build two motor cars motors and brakes designed to handle two (2) trailing cars. Oh you falangs you can always find faults with what we Thais do, rest assured you will see these two German build motor cars will be able to handle it. Oh Ja, for how long, sure in the begin they will handle it but over time is a total different kettle of fish.

It really isn't all about saving the citizens of Thailand money, it is all about how much can we hi-so ripoff the citizens of Thailand????

LOL in LOS

[oldsailor35]

He said what had all the money gone to, adding that this would be certainly investigated.

oops another corruption scandal in the make about a organization that is run by nobody else than the army.

The way the revelation of yet another US$10 million corruption scandal appears, almost offhandedly, at the end of a different story belies how commonplace this sort of thing is, and how little import the authorities put on them.

Unless of course, they can score a "redshirt scalp"

[Thian]

One person is responsible for the trainproblems but another one (i guess) didn't find it necessary to go and help the passengers. That frightens me the most! You can't trust your life on people like that as they don't give a shut about people standing in a oven in full sun without any fresh air.

[oldsailor35]

As bad as the UK where this kind of incident is frequent.

In that awful heat, it must be unbearable.

[plachon]

Oh Mr Porter! What Shall I do?

I wanted to go to Suvarnaphum

They put me off at Crewe.

Shame really Hay, Abbott and Costello and Chaplin did not know about LOS. Even Carry On Up Sukhumvit would have had them rolling in the aisles.

Are you talking about ancient comedians or more contemporary Aussie politicians? The latter jokers always get me rolling in the aisles with their environment-destroying antics.

[Jonmarleesco]

'He said what had all the money gone to ...' Was that a serious question? '... adding that this would be certainly investigated.' And was that a serious statement of intent?

[MiKT]

Very quick solution to have a solar panels installed on the roof , solar film on the windows ,

enough power to at least to enable the doors to open , if the mains trips out,

or a cheaper alternative

a large sledge hammer affixed to a panel,

There must have been life-hammers in the train i guess, i wonder why nobody (dared to) used them.

They should sue Siemens this is obviously a design fault in the system and the trains are a Siemens design

Slowdown a bit with your they're Riemens Design and charge Siemens.

Siemens designs the train as they know from past experience how it MUST be and then the buyer(s) come to haggle about the price. What are all these batteries for??? In case of power failure. We in Thailand have no power failing. So we don't need all them batteries, in addition then we also don't need the emergency system the batteries are connected to. So what is the price now??? GET THE IDEA.

Siemens also designed the Sky trains. They designed them with a motor car on each end with a trailing car in the middle. The motor cars as the name implies have the electric motors and of course the brakes. The trailing car does NOT have either. Ital Thai designed the platforms for the Siemens design of two trains coupled together during PEAK HOURS. So the station platforms lengths are for two trains (6-Cars). Thais know how to safe money so when they ordered new trains, this time from Siemens China, they also ordered extra trailing cars. The Siemens China design two motor cars with two trailing cars. What are the extra trailing cars for, oh for the Siemens German build trains, we just put one more trailing car between the two motor cars. Are the German build two motor cars motors and brakes designed to handle two (2) trailing cars. Oh you falangs you can always find faults with what we Thais do, rest assured you will see these two German build motor cars will be able to handle it. Oh Ja, for how long, sure in the begin they will handle it but over time is a total different kettle of fish.

It really isn't all about saving the citizens of Thailand money, it is all about how much can we hi-so ripoff the citizens of Thailand????

LOL in LOS

What a load of raciest and technically ill-informed twaddle, Firstly the Siemens "Skytrain" trains were designed according to the specifications that were approved by 'oh golly" Thai managers/directors who wanted to save money, but did not have a clue about trains. Sorry to burst your happy little bubble.

Secondly, they were built to match the constantly reducing budget for a railway that no Thai hi-so's wanted.

Thirdly, the breaking systems are perfectly adequate no matter how the consists are configured.

Fourthly, the Chinese built trains (whilst not at all bad) are not 100% as good as the Siemens trains in all areas. They have some very interesting faults.

I have nothing against them overall, but please don't write drivel about the Chinese railway technology superiority over the Germans. The Chinese stole most of their modern railway technology - look what happened with the Maglev and why Siemens lost a fortune on that fiasco. So in essence the Chinese trains are a slightly inferior copy of the Siemens trains.....sound familiar.

Fifthly, the Airport link trains are not the same as the Skytrains, they run on overhead catenary (not 3rd rail) and are Siemens Desiro II trains which rate amongst the finest rolling stock ever built anywhere in the world and are a great success in many, many countries. Not least being the hugely successful Heathrow Express airport rail link.

So what is wrong here? the good old Thai SRT, the most corrupt Government department in Thailand (allegedly) and isn't that saying something, bought trains, but refused to buy any spares (that's why the high speed trains are not running) and they do not maintain the local link trains and railway infrastructure half as well as they should.

NB Thai's designed the crappy station at the airport with such difficult access no airline passengers want to use it and refused to listen to real railway experts who tried to tell them of the problems they were creating.

Thai's also insisted on not using the same type of trains that run on both the BTS and Blue lines for the airport link even though it would have been technically easier. Why? not because it was the sensible thing to do to save money for Thailand, but to ensure that nobody could try to take the SRT's toys away and make them work together with the BTS and MRTA.

So yes, Thai's know how to handle money, stuff it straight in their pockets and blame everybody else when it all goes wrong.

And please don't come back with "oh you are anti Thai". I am anti anybody who makes a complete <deleted> of a railway because they want to trouser the money and are completely xenophobic in their approach.

The Chinese at least know how to work with foreign companies - even if it is only to get their hands on the others technology - 555.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Let's see, who IS responsible for the other day's mishap???

Well, it's a Thai government sponsored rail line.. Run by a Thai government organization. Headed at present, according to the OP article, by a Thai general (current or retired). And the decisions about what maintenance to fund and system equipment to purchase are made by Thai government officials (whether at SRT, or MOT and/or the Finance Ministry).

So what entity keeps cropping up here again and again??? Government, government, government.

And thus who is responsible? Absolutely no one.

[baboon]

"He said he didnt understand why the top executive of the organisation did not come to the scene to supervise the evacuation of passengers, but left them stranded inside the locked train amid the heat of the morning sun."

I think I can answer that one for him...

Why would he attend any rescue? What use would he be? His job is to supervise the broad framework of the operation, not be on the ready to evacuate a train, replace a fuse, do minor signalling repairs or crank a set of points. Now I am quite prepared to believe he has done a horseshit job of his brief, but that is a different matter. He would be worse than useless on the ground.

[cat handler]

The buck stops with the driver, why didn't open the doors to allow air in however I can understand him not allowing people onto the mainline, that is dangerous. The railcars look pretty new on that line, why wouldn't the battery back up be connected and working, it makes me wonder how much training the drivers actually do as it should be a check in his railcar preparation. Give me diesel electric any day, so much more reliable.

[jacko45k]

He said he didn’t understand why the top executive of the organisation did not come to the scene to supervise the evacuation of passengers, but left them stranded inside the locked train amid the heat of the morning sun.

A clue could be found in many manager's offices in the country before 11am........ nobody around.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The news reporting on this thus far is pretty fuzzy.

If you read the reports here, they make it sound like it was some kind of failure of a backup power system on the particular train that was directly involved.

But if you read the BKK Post's report yesterday, that seems focused more on the issue of recurring power problems at the Ramkamhaeng ARL station and the backup power supply at that station either being out of service or insufficient.

The Post article has the ARL officials talking about the need to install new backup power supplies at each of the ARL stations -- something they supposedly had proposed doing not long ago, but their proposal supposedly was turned back by the Transport Ministry for being inadequately prepared/documented.

[Thian]

The news reporting on this thus far is pretty fuzzy.

If you read the reports here, they make it sound like it was some kind of failure of a backup power system on the particular train that was directly involved.

But if you read the BKK Post's report yesterday, that seems focused more on the issue of recurring power problems at the Ramkamhaeng ARL station and the backup power supply at that station either being out of service or insufficient.

The Post article has the ARL officials talking about the need to install new backup power supplies at each of the ARL stations -- something they supposedly had proposed doing not long ago, but their proposal supposedly was turned back by the Transport Ministry for being inadequately prepared/documented.

So they just let the trains ride without any backup power to open the doors in case of emergency? Mind you it's the airport link where loads of Quality Tourists can jump in the train any time.

Thailand doesn't deserve Quality Tourists if they still think this way. Better hire real pro's from abroad.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

You gotta love Thailand.

So the Post has another story today with comment from the PM and the same deputy transport minister, with the later saying he had ordered SRT to find out who should be held responsible for the fiasco the other day... Really??? The SRT is gonna decide what individual or individuals was responsible?

And the same article paraphrases the PM as blaming the SRT for leaving their backup power system "out of order for months." That's the Post's language, paraphrasing the PM.

Then the PM is quoted as saying: "I have checked. The airport link has had problems for a long time. No one has bothered to pay attention."

The article then continues with what seems like a non-sequitor from the PM, saying the existing ARL trains would be modified to carry more passengers and no new ARL trains would be ordered for now. Huh??? So SRT can't run and operate the system safely right now, and the government's response is to stuff even more passengers into the existing trains (perhaps they mean opening up the now dis-used luggage cars), so when they break down, even more folks will be left stranded?

Finally, the article quotes the deputy transport minister as saying he expects the SRT board will vote next week to approve new emergency power systems for 7 ARL stations at a total cost of 32 million baht. Again, all their discussion seems to be about the emergency backup power systems at the various stations, as opposed to any units on the trains themselves.

Edited March 23, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK