Airport Rail Link adds 4 new express trains

[webfact]

Airport Rail Link adds 4 new express trains

 

  

BANGKOK, 5 October 2016 (NNT) - Deputy Minister of Transport Aomsin Sheewapruek chaired the unveiling of new express trains for Bangkok’s Airport Rail Link. 

He revealed that four trains will be revamped and added to the express line to service an additional 740 passengers per train. 

The new trains will be equipped with additional seating and handrails, new floor materials, relocated fire extinguishers, and additional wheelchair areas. 

Mr Aomsin boarded a test ride from the Airport Rail Link headquarters to Suvarnabhumi International Airport the same day the four trains began public service. He also revealed that an addition three trains will be added to the express line by the end of December this year.

 

-- nnt 2016-10-05

[fruitman]

No thanks, i don't like the connections to other lines and sure not with suitcases.

 

And when electricity falls out they let you get cooked without any aircon or help.....they deserve to go bankrupt.

[steveyinasia]

I was a regular passenger on this service until things degraded to the point of being ridiculous and will not return until they can prove they are an effective service.

[Searat7]

What happened to the old express trains which were taken out of service over 2 years ago ?  I wonder if they were canabilized to provide parts for the City Link trains. 

[Deserted]

I used the service the other day for the first time in a few years. I was surprised at how efficient it was but this was not at rush hour when I know its a lot busier.

[Laughing Gravy]

Anyone who uses this regularly will know of the absolute chaos in the mornings and afternoons. Packed in like sardines with people pushing and showing is disgraceful. I know I maybe talking absolute logic here but why don't they add more carriages on each train?  Would it use that much more electricity?

Once again this like other projects, had the potential to be a great way of getting across Bangkok and reducing the traffic. Sadly it is a 'token' effort and has few trains, too far apart and not enough carriages to make an impact.

[Estrada]

A confused story. Firstly, the Airport express service was shutdown due to the breakdown of 4 of their Airport Express trains due to the fact that the SRT did not buy any spare parts when they bought the trains. The remaining airport express trains have been running on the Citi Line due to the passenger numbers now reaching 62,000/day and many passengers now cannot get on the train when it reaches Hua Mark, so they give up and take the bus. Originally the Citi Line was designed for 42,000/passengers/day but only had 20,000/day and nay sayers, like they say about Purple Line and the BTS in 1999, were saying that it was a waste of money. Now the potential passenger numbers per day should increase to at least 72,000+/day if they had enough trains to give a frequent and reliable service. Only one train has been refurbished so far with 3 more to return to service by end December 2016. However, the Airport Express Line is unlikely to return to service until more express trains are delivered and the extended line reaches Don Muang Airport. At this time they intend to go out for bidding for a private operator to run the services.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The OP article makes it sound like they are re-starting the Express service on the ARL with the new trains.

 

But the NNT article is such gibberish and lacking in clear, sensible details, it's hard to tell or know for sure.

 

[sikishrory]

They shut down the real nonstop express line a long time ago but even at the station they still refer to it as "express". There is nothing at all express about this thing. I had a 11pm flight a few weeks ago, so left sukhumvit around 6.30pm to go to petchaburi/makkasan. It was a very long wait standing in line with luggage to get on the airport link. Then it was sardine style most of the way to the airport. Not user friendly.

The alternative was a taxi from Asoke which would be even worse.

I do remember the days of the nonstop express service. Barely used and deserted most of the time. Its a shame as it was a really good service.

Terrible flagrant use of the word express though.

 

[titanio82]

Well, this City Link between Suvarnabhumi and Hua Mak with a 5 minutes walk to the condo still works great for me. And from HuaMak into the city is indeed sometimes a long wait, but definitely not longer than a taxi ride.

[asiaexpat]

I use the Link almost daily to get into city center and welcome anything that adds more usable space for riders. The use of Express trains during heavy traffic periods was not helpful at all since the configuration limited passenger space. A reconfiguration should be helpful. Previously when I saw that the next train was an Express I just sat down for another 20 minute wait (not willing to push people around to get on.)

[anotheruser]

My friend always uses the airport link as we live right above it at Makkasan. I always use a cab. I think he is crazy to be willing to stand all that way if it is crowded with bags. Even if the taxi takes a little longer I would rather be in a car seated comfortably browsing the web and catching up on emails than packed in shoulder to shoulder on a train looking at other people surfing the web with their phones stuck in my face.

 

As I mentioned we live right above the thing, I can't imagine even thinking of using it if you had to transfer anywhere along the way. With the walk to get to it in the airport and depending on the departure times I am not even sure if it would save any time either. 

[AlexRRR]

if there got the express back great, i loved it and was happy to pay for it rather than go cattle class with luggage....4 times a day isn't enough of course...