Udomsuk, Onnut Skytrain stations overcrowded

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Udomsuk, Onnut Skytrain stations overcrowded

 

Passengers suffered long queues at two major BTS Skytrain stations on the Sukhumvit route on Thursday morning, although a rail official said there was no problem with the service.

 

At 8am, passengers crowded Udomsuk and Onnut stations and long lines overflowed to street level. 

 

Several passengers posted messages on Jor Sor 100 Facebook page that they waited for trains for more than an hour. 

 

Passenger Phatthira Karnpakdee said she waited at the Udomsuk station from 8am and could not get on a train after an hour although four crowded trains passed. A BTS official said there was no fault with the service and the congestion was

probably caused by the high volume of passengers following morning rains.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30321262

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-07-20

[NCC1701A]

I like riding the BTS.

 

Of course I don't ride it everyday and I don't need to be anywhere on time. And I only ride between Nana and Asok.

 

 

 

 

 

[wpcoe]

6 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

Passenger Phatthira Karnpakdee said she waited at the Udomsuk station from 8am and could not get on a train after an hour although four crowded trains passed.

Something's not right.  There should be more than four trains per hour, especially at 8am.

[Bangkok Barry]

No fault with the service, so presumably it's normal to be queuing down to the street to catch the train then.

Look, London and New York have similar populations to Bangkok. New York runs 12 coach trains, London runs eight coaches. Bangkok runs four. So trying to catch a train in Bangkok at any time, let alone during peak periods, is always, always going to be a challenge. Anyone doing anything about it? I don't think so. Just blame the overcrowding on the weather.

[Bangkok Barry]

2 minutes ago, wpcoe said:

Something's not right.  There should be more than four trains per hour, especially at 8am.

 

I thought that too. But I'm guessing that included queuing time. Having to let four trains go by isn't unusual at that time of day, in my experience. Pathetic system. At least the routes are quite short so if you do manage to squeeze on board you aren't crushed for long.

[Redline]

Nothing really works here.  That's why it's cheaper

[dddave]

Just between Phra Khanong and On Nut, more than 20 Hi Rise Condos plus dozens of smaller apartment/room buildings have gone up in the last 10 years.  Many more than that between On Nut and Bearing.

Adding new cars will help temporarily but as they expand that line with the four new stations now built but not opened east of  Samrong,  at peak morning hours, cars will fill before Udom Suk.

Eventually, the only solution will be rebuilding the stations to accommodate longer six to eight car trains like you see in other major cities.