Samrong BTS station to open in April

[webfact]

Samrong BTS station to open in April

By Coconuts Bangkok 

 

BANGKOK: -- Samrong BTS station, which is part of the BTS Green Line extension, is set to go through a trial run next month before it officially opens on April 1.

 

Bangkok Governor Assawin Kwanmuang said the construction of Samrong, the BTS station extended from Bearing, has been completed, and officials are rushing to open it in order to help residents.

 

Samrong is a part of the 13-kilometer extension known as “Bearing-Samut Prakarn,” which includes nine elevated stations and is scheduled to open next year.

 

Full story: https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/samrong-bts-station-open-april/

 

-- © Copyright Coconuts Bangkok 2017-02-24

[PatOngo]

Can't they be more precise?....everyday is April 1 here.

[snooky]

Whatever happened to the news some time ago that a new station was to be built on the Silom Line between ChongngonSri and Surasak?

 

[Crossy]

14 minutes ago, snooky said:

Whatever happened to the news some time ago that a new station was to be built on the Silom Line between ChongngonSri and Surasak?

 

S04 will happen, it's actually part of the extension contracts.

[MikeN]

39 minutes ago, snooky said:

Whatever happened to the news some time ago that a new station was to be built on the Silom Line between ChongngonSri and Surasak?

 

And whatever happened to the plan to demolish saphan taksin station and build a walkway from surasak ? Because it was always planned as only a temporary station, so somebody said ....never mind that it connects to the ferry.

[bangon04]

So they must have decided who owns Samrong.. is it Bangkok or Samut Prakan?

[FarangryBirds]

It is going live on 3rd April.

 

 

[bkkcanuck8]

The part that says 2018, I have been told that it should be able to be used in November 2017 (test runs) which would line up with full service early 2018.  (I am located a short walk to E21 - Phraek Sa)

Edited March 15, 2017 by bkkcanuck8

[bkkcanuck8]

On 2/24/2017 at 5:58 PM, MikeN said:

And whatever happened to the plan to demolish saphan taksin station and build a walkway from surasak ? Because it was always planned as only a temporary station, so somebody said ....never mind that it connects to the ferry.

It was not "always planned" as a temporary station.  There were no plans originally beyond Saphan Taksin.... when they extended the line they could not expand the station because of limitations on the room needed (transport would not give up lanes and the land to expand is occupied by important landmarks).   As the volume of trains needed increases - they have to double track that section - and since they cannot do that with the station it is slated to close.  I expect that to happen once construction begins on the double tracking etc.

[FarangryBirds]

On 3/16/2017 at 0:08 AM, bkkcanuck8 said:

The part that says 2018, I have been told that it should be able to be used in November 2017 (test runs) which would line up with full service early 2018.  (I am located a short walk to E21 - Phraek Sa)

A lot of the stations after Samrong still look they need a lot of work to be completed, that said I have been impressed with how quickly the whole project has taken shape in the last few years.

[NextStationBangkok]

Samrong has large residential population ready to travel BTS. It will be really great, but SIAM station will be too full after all network completed.

 

At the moment, not possible to get off at SIAM during peak hours to transfer. That is one bad design though.

[bkkcanuck8]

On 3/17/2017 at 2:15 PM, NextStationBangkok said:

Samrong has large residential population ready to travel BTS. It will be really great, but SIAM station will be too full after all network completed.

 

At the moment, not possible to get off at SIAM during peak hours to transfer. That is one bad design though.

I have no problem getting off at places like Siam where a mass of people are already getting off.... sometimes it can seem daunting on lesser volume stations because you are packed in there and then there is no mass of people pushing their way out and you are just walled in.... yet I have always made it off....  

 

They are building a little bit of a problem and that is with the system being overpriced for the market (though I guess they have had to pay off an extra bit of grease).   They have one line going farther and farther out and all being funnelled in through a corridor without a mesh of other lines to switch to.  That as well as the fact that the transfer between lines is a massive headache (as opposed to being able to transfer without exiting one system and entering another).  I don't see any real way to spread the volume out... but it should be studied to see if there is another line that can pull some of the volume off.  In the meantime they really should extend the trainset to full length and potentially do more frequency in the core with some trains doing short turns at Ekkemai or something.

[Lakegeneve]

On 3/16/2017 at 0:23 AM, bkkcanuck8 said:

It was not "always planned" as a temporary station.  There were no plans originally beyond Saphan Taksin.... when they extended the line they could not expand the station because of limitations on the room needed (transport would not give up lanes and the land to expand is occupied by important landmarks).   As the volume of trains needed increases - they have to double track that section - and since they cannot do that with the station it is slated to close.  I expect that to happen once construction begins on the double tracking etc.

"There were no plans originally beyond Saphan Taksin".     This statement is completely incorrect.

 

When the BTS first opened in Dec 1999, there were 3 initial BTS extensions planned (in this order);

1) Silom Line: Saphan Taksin to Wong Wian Yai (then later to Phetkasem rd)

2) Suk Line north: Mo Chit to Saphan Mai - originally due to open in 2008!

3) Silom Line spur: Chong Nonsi station to Rama 3 (essentially half of the the current BRT line) - this proposed was later scrapped around 2005.

 

The BTS issued maps of these future extensions from 2000 - 2002.

 

Indeed, the contract for civil works (Bridge and viaduct only) for the Saphan Taksin to WWY then Phetkasem rd was tendered in 2000 and works commenced in 2001. (I took photos of the bridge being built at the time). The full viaduct to Phetkasem was completed by 2003 - even before most of Ratchapruek rd was completed. (It was called the 'viaduct to no where' for a couple of years given the delays in tendering the stations) The BMA finally tendered the contracts for the 1st section stations to WWY in 2005.

 

Herein, lies one major problem. The original plan called for 3 stations to be built between the river and WWY. One immediately across the river above Charoen Nakhon rd (S7), WWY station immediately above Ket Thong Buri rd intersection (S9) and the 2nd station half way between both (S8). The initial plan saw the cross river station as a replacement for Saphan Taksin (though the initial plan was not well conceived in this respect).

 

However, the BMA in order to save money for the 2.2 ext decided to  build only 2 stations (S7 & S8), not 3, thus moving the WWY station a few hundred meters east and building Krung Thonburi closer to Charoen Nakhon rd. The BMA subsequently did the same beyond WWY to Bang Wa as 5 stations were originally planned but only 4 were built. (Don't forget that the BMA did the same with the Suk line ext from On Nut to Bearing where they only built 5 stations instead of the original plan for 6 stations).

 

The Saphan Taksin to WWY extension opened 2 years later in May 2009 instead of the original opening date of 1st quarter of 2007 due to problems related with the E&S systems installation.