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Bangkok Airport Rail Link (ARL): Updates, Advice, Discussion

Bangkok Airport Rail Link (ARL): Updates, Advice, Discussion

Old Apr 28, 2016, 10:15 pm
  #286  
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Originally Posted by 2lovelife
It's good that it's a success. And for 45 THB a great deal.

But, I can't believe how horribly conceived the design was. Did they plan to never run at capacity?
Yes, a great deal for 45B ^ @:-)

Design

Always empty Expresss (RIP) and now rush hour jam packed ...

TiT

Actually, even my last two non rush hour arrival / departure were pretty full. Lots of falang tourist, lots of Thais, even some Chinese with pretty much uncontrolled four year old child
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Old Apr 29, 2016, 2:10 am
  #287  
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Originally Posted by EmailKid

Lots of falang tourist, lots of Thais, even some Chinese with pretty much uncontrolled four year old child
Sounds like my typical AirAsia flight, DMK-HKT

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Old Apr 29, 2016, 5:56 am
  #288  
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Originally Posted by 2lovelife
I flew out of BKK last week, taking the Airport link from Phaya Thai.

With 5 minutes to departure the platform was so full, the top of the escalator had no space for more people.

Then the train came in. As a further flood of people offloaded, it was a spectacle. Hilarious, really.

It's good that it's a success. And for 45 THB a great deal.

But, I can't believe how horribly conceived the design was. Did they plan to never run at capacity?
With the express no longer running I've wondered why they don't engineer the system to disembark at the other side [of Phaya Thai], pull forward and change track (like BTS at Mo Chit) and then pick up pax.

And the reason they don't do this is simple......

Last edited by dsquared37; Apr 29, 2016 at 6:03 am
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Old Apr 29, 2016, 12:56 pm
  #289  
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Originally Posted by dsquared37
And the reason they don't do this is simple......
Yes, TiT
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Old Apr 29, 2016, 4:22 pm
  #290  
 
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Originally Posted by 2lovelife
I flew out of BKK last week, taking the Airport link from Phaya Thai.

With 5 minutes to departure the platform was so full, the top of the escalator had no space for more people.

Then the train came in. As a further flood of people offloaded, it was a spectacle. Hilarious, really.

It's good that it's a success. And for 45 THB a great deal.

But, I can't believe how horribly conceived the design was. Did they plan to never run at capacity?
2lovelife - You are absolutely correct. At Phaya Thai there is no room for the pax to disembark. All available space on the narrow platform is taken by waiting pax. One can forget about ever getting a seat, for the 30 minute journey. However the price is right - 45 THB - and the train is air conditioned.
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Old Apr 29, 2016, 6:37 pm
  #291  
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Most public transportation here is subsidized by the government.

The State Railway of Thailand currently operates the SARL, but there are plans to sell this off as they are losing money, and the entire system is way overdue for maintenance. All the rolling stock is at least 30% past it's scheduled maintenance.

Any company which takes this over will raise the fares significantly. Some subsidy might remain for monthly trip tickets/elderly/students (not stored value), thereby allowing airport pax to shoulder the burden.

The 45 baht fare is cheap for 26 Km. A 22 Km journey on the BTS (Mor Chit to Bearing is 57 baht, with the 15 baht kicker).

There have been some significant outages on the SARL recently. The incident on March 21 was a bit disconcerting. There have been other incidents recently, although not quite as bad.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/brea...-30282084.html

This train was not really designed (speed) for its current operating model (capacity). Airport passengers/luggage take up a lot of room, and the frequency does not address commuters.

The platform situation is alarming; amazing there haven't been any incidents yet? (There may have been, but nothing in the news I've seen.) There is not enough room for, nor a switch west of Phaya Thai, while the switch before Phaya Thai wouldn't address to dis/embarking passenger issue. (That was used for the Express.)

I think they will have to implement a queuing system for departing passengers, at Phaya Thai and Makkasan at least, on the ticketing mezzanine level. This would allow arriving passengers to head down/out, and then allow departing passengers to go up to the platform (in a mad rush).

Given the way things operate here, I'd expect SARL service to get a whole lot worse (like tomorrow) before it gets better (in 10 years). That's just the nature here. I do anything to avoid riding on this train now.

Last edited by transpac; Apr 29, 2016 at 7:26 pm
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Old Apr 30, 2016, 4:55 pm
  #292  
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It's a shame. The concept was great - just let down by the design and implementation. I suppose the current state of the system will at least make the taxi drivers happier...
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Old Oct 6, 2016, 8:54 am
  #293  
 
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Originally Posted by Dr. HFH
You're on JL 708? I take that flight 2-3 times annually, and have for about a decade. Never arrive at BKK later than 6 a.m. regardless of whether I'm in J or Y. As dtsm said, BKK has lots of early morning departures, and JL 708 is usually (IME) full.
Is the flight JL32 to HND at 09:45 less stressful, if one is staying in BKK and going to the airport in the AM? Would a taxi at 7 am be better than taking the train/metro?
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Old Oct 6, 2016, 9:46 am
  #294  
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Originally Posted by headinclouds
Is the flight JL32 to HND at 09:45 less stressful, if one is staying in BKK and going to the airport in the AM? Would a taxi at 7 am be better than taking the train/metro?
No idea about HND as I've never flown through there. In the morning, it's rush hour, even at 7 a.m. I always take a taxi or limo. You can certainly consider the ARL if you are traveling light; but the train is likely to be crowded, between commuters and the people trying to get to the airport for morning departures.
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Old Oct 6, 2016, 6:07 pm
  #295  
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Originally Posted by Dr. HFH
No idea about HND as I've never flown through there. In the morning, it's rush hour, even at 7 a.m. I always take a taxi or limo. You can certainly consider the ARL if you are traveling light; but the train is likely to be crowded, between commuters and the people trying to get to the airport for morning departures.
ARL will not be bad at 7AM to the airport. It is also, IME, before BTS gets into it's peak times. On the flip side traffic to the airport is also light and a quick taxi ride.
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Old Oct 6, 2016, 7:20 pm
  #296  
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Headline is a bit misleading, this is more about reconfiguring the trains - so the Express service will never return, finally doing some maintenance, and running them a bit faster...

This throwaway at the end of the article is interesting...

The new trains will improve the company's services as it plans to serve passengers around the clock, he said.



No more Express Line for Airport Rail Link

The Transport Ministry is spending 22 million baht upgrading four Airport Rail Link trains and streamlining services to increase train speeds and reduce travel times as part of an effort to draw more passengers.

One of the four electric skytrains has been upgraded and since passed speed and safety tests, Deputy Transport Minister Ormsin Chivapruck said yesterday as he presided over a ceremony to launch the newly renovated train.

Another three will be ready for use by December, he said.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/gene...port-rail-link
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Old Oct 6, 2016, 11:01 pm
  #297  
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Originally Posted by transpac
No more Express Line for Airport Rail Link
While I always liked the express service, I never really got it. If you only have one track in each direction, express service means that the express train has to wait a bit after the last local train before it can leave so that it doesn't catch up to the local ahead of it. So you don't really get to Makkasan or Phaya Thai any more quickly. Or you can have some areas of the track split off into two in each direction so that the express train can pass the local; but that requires very precise timing.

The real way to do express service is to have two tracks in each direction, one dedicated to express service.
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Old Oct 7, 2016, 3:06 am
  #298  
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Originally Posted by Dr. HFH
While I always liked the express service, I never really got it. If you only have one track in each direction, express service means that the express train has to wait a bit after the last local train before it can leave so that it doesn't catch up to the local ahead of it. So you don't really get to Makkasan or Phaya Thai any more quickly. Or you can have some areas of the track split off into two in each direction so that the express train can pass the local; but that requires very precise timing.

The real way to do express service is to have two tracks in each direction, one dedicated to express service.

This [bolding mine] is exactly how it was set up. Hua Mak was the bypass area and Makkasan's alignment could have allowed the same but the track was never configured to do so.
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Old Oct 7, 2016, 3:35 am
  #299  
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Originally Posted by dsquared37
This [bolding mine] is exactly how it was set up. Hua Mak was the bypass area and Makkasan's alignment could have allowed the same but the track was never configured to do so.
Ahhhh.... I understand better now. Thanks!
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Old Oct 7, 2016, 9:35 pm
  #300  
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Trouble was (is) that not enough pax were willing to pony up the extra Baht (myself included).

OK, I did once, and I'm still kicking myself for that

Just hope this will fix the pain ....
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