BKK-Bangkok Airport Rail Link Discussion [PRE-2014 ARCHIVE]
Aug 23, 2010, 2:10 am
#151
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Bangkok Airport Rail Link vs. city taxi
http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/visit/t...-362693?hpt=C2
Pros and cons
Airport Rail Link pros: Fast, cheap, no traffic jams, impossible to get lost, train drivers don’t scam you, more environmentally friendly than taxi.
Airport Rail Link cons: Not a lot of space for bags, getting to/from/around stations poses some difficulty if you have luggage, connecting to MRT not easy -- getting to Petchburi MRT station from main Makkasan SARL station involves walking about 300 meters over dodgy pavement, across train tracks, and through a bit of traffic.
Taxi pros: Door-to-door service anywhere in city, can split cost among passengers, very fast if traffic isn't bad.
Taxi cons: Taxi scams against foreigners common, riders subject to soul-crushing traffic jams (especially during rainy season), limited room for luggage.
Until the end of the year, passengers can ride the Airport Rail Link's Express Line for 100 baht.
Conclusion: Airport Rail Link wins, sort of
There are many ways to slice up a trip to the airport, but ultimately it comes down to what aspect of the journey is most important to you -- comfort, cost or speed. The math gets trickier the more people in the party.
Personally, I’d vote for the convenience of a taxi if I were starting or ending my journey outside of the city center. If I were going to or from the airport from anywhere near the SARL line and didn’t have ten suitcases, the Airport Rail Link is clearly the easier and cheaper option.
Read more: Bangkok Airport Rail Link vs. city taxi | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/visit/t...#ixzz0xPlJZzM7
Airport Rail Link pros: Fast, cheap, no traffic jams, impossible to get lost, train drivers don’t scam you, more environmentally friendly than taxi.
Airport Rail Link cons: Not a lot of space for bags, getting to/from/around stations poses some difficulty if you have luggage, connecting to MRT not easy -- getting to Petchburi MRT station from main Makkasan SARL station involves walking about 300 meters over dodgy pavement, across train tracks, and through a bit of traffic.
Taxi pros: Door-to-door service anywhere in city, can split cost among passengers, very fast if traffic isn't bad.
Taxi cons: Taxi scams against foreigners common, riders subject to soul-crushing traffic jams (especially during rainy season), limited room for luggage.
Until the end of the year, passengers can ride the Airport Rail Link's Express Line for 100 baht.
Conclusion: Airport Rail Link wins, sort of
There are many ways to slice up a trip to the airport, but ultimately it comes down to what aspect of the journey is most important to you -- comfort, cost or speed. The math gets trickier the more people in the party.
Personally, I’d vote for the convenience of a taxi if I were starting or ending my journey outside of the city center. If I were going to or from the airport from anywhere near the SARL line and didn’t have ten suitcases, the Airport Rail Link is clearly the easier and cheaper option.
Read more: Bangkok Airport Rail Link vs. city taxi | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/visit/t...#ixzz0xPlJZzM7
Last edited by FatManInNYC; Aug 23, 2010 at 6:39 am
Aug 23, 2010, 6:14 am
#152
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Looks like the live reports here on FT will seperate journalism from the truth.
http://airportraillink.railway.co.th/en/
http://airportraillink.railway.co.th/en/
And I love the Rules tab.
I did see that the express was slated to run 6:00-1:00 and the city link 24 hours. That contradicts info in the papers recently however.
Aug 23, 2010, 6:19 am
#153
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http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/visit/t...-362693?hpt=C2
Pros and cons
Airport Rail Link pros: Fast, cheap, no traffic jams, impossible to get lost, train drivers don’t scam you, more environmentally friendly than taxi.
Airport Rail Link cons: Not a lot of space for bags, getting to/from/around stations poses some difficulty if you have luggage, connecting to MRT not easy -- getting to Petchburi MRT station from main Makkasan SARL station involves walking about 300 meters over dodgy pavement, across train tracks, and through a bit of traffic.
Taxi pros: Door-to-door service anywhere in city, can split cost among passengers, very fast if traffic isn't bad.
Taxi cons: Taxi scams against foreigners common, riders subject to soul-crushing traffic jams (especially during rainy season), limited room for luggage.
Until the end of the year, passengers can ride the Airport Rail Link's Express Line for 100 baht.
Conclusion: Airport Rail Link wins, sort of
There are many ways to slice up a trip to the airport, but ultimately it comes down to what aspect of the journey is most important to you -- comfort, cost or speed. The math gets trickier the more people in the party.
Personally, I’d vote for the convenience of a taxi if I were starting or ending my journey outside of the city center. If I were going to or from the airport from anywhere near the SARL line and didn’t have ten suitcases, the Airport Rail Link is clearly the easier and cheaper option.
Read more: Bangkok Airport Rail Link vs. city taxi | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/visit/t...#ixzz0xPlJZzM7
Pros and cons
Airport Rail Link pros: Fast, cheap, no traffic jams, impossible to get lost, train drivers don’t scam you, more environmentally friendly than taxi.
Airport Rail Link cons: Not a lot of space for bags, getting to/from/around stations poses some difficulty if you have luggage, connecting to MRT not easy -- getting to Petchburi MRT station from main Makkasan SARL station involves walking about 300 meters over dodgy pavement, across train tracks, and through a bit of traffic.
Taxi pros: Door-to-door service anywhere in city, can split cost among passengers, very fast if traffic isn't bad.
Taxi cons: Taxi scams against foreigners common, riders subject to soul-crushing traffic jams (especially during rainy season), limited room for luggage.
Until the end of the year, passengers can ride the Airport Rail Link's Express Line for 100 baht.
Conclusion: Airport Rail Link wins, sort of
There are many ways to slice up a trip to the airport, but ultimately it comes down to what aspect of the journey is most important to you -- comfort, cost or speed. The math gets trickier the more people in the party.
Personally, I’d vote for the convenience of a taxi if I were starting or ending my journey outside of the city center. If I were going to or from the airport from anywhere near the SARL line and didn’t have ten suitcases, the Airport Rail Link is clearly the easier and cheaper option.
Read more: Bangkok Airport Rail Link vs. city taxi | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/visit/t...#ixzz0xPlJZzM7
There's no chance of any of that happening by the end of the year when prices will increase and then a taxi will look even better.
Aug 23, 2010, 6:25 am
#154
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Aug 23, 2010, 6:40 am
#155
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Aug 23, 2010, 9:40 am
#156
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I didn't realize for some reason that the City line and Express line train cars were configured differently.
If they really don't have any down escalators at the Phaya Thai station that would seem to be a rather large deterrence to travelers with luggage. I guess they are hoping the tourists will all take the express trains and use the "city air terminal".
The author of the CNN article might have done better to go from a couple of the popular hotels around town instead of Hua Lampong. Or why not take the MRT from there to the airport train instead of taking a taxi? If you are already in a taxi anyway why wouldn't you just take it to the airport instead of taking it to the airport train?
If they really don't have any down escalators at the Phaya Thai station that would seem to be a rather large deterrence to travelers with luggage. I guess they are hoping the tourists will all take the express trains and use the "city air terminal".
The author of the CNN article might have done better to go from a couple of the popular hotels around town instead of Hua Lampong. Or why not take the MRT from there to the airport train instead of taking a taxi? If you are already in a taxi anyway why wouldn't you just take it to the airport instead of taking it to the airport train?
Aug 23, 2010, 10:22 am
#157
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Just saw some pics on FB posted by someone from the WGS that took the line today. The ticket appears to be THB 100 for a same-day r/t. They had ticket #9 on the Express Train ^
Aug 23, 2010, 5:45 pm
#158
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The author of the CNN article might have done better to go from a couple of the popular hotels around town instead of Hua Lampong. Or why not take the MRT from there to the airport train instead of taking a taxi? If you are already in a taxi anyway why wouldn't you just take it to the airport instead of taking it to the airport train?
Doesn't seem odd at all to take a taxi to SARL. That would be me route... if I were to take it.
Aug 24, 2010, 3:17 am
#159
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Having hit a few really bad taxi drivers, I'm very pleased to have this option. I am looking forward to trying this out when I'm there in November. Mid-day arrival unless plans change, although I've noted the confusion about whether the city line runs all night and when the express ends with interest - I'm usually on the ~midnight JAL flight that AA codeshares on, and it sounds like it would be city line or nothing as it's been rare to be through immigration before 1.
Aug 24, 2010, 9:52 am
#160
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Reports from Phaya Thai station state that the connection from the 15THB City Line to BTS station is completed, that it is not necessary to decend to the street.
Aug 25, 2010, 4:43 am
#161
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Numbers for the first day are in:
City Line expected 15000 passengers, got 26149. (Expected to rise to >50,000 by the end of year.) ^
Airport Express had... drum roll... 633.
City Line expected 15000 passengers, got 26149. (Expected to rise to >50,000 by the end of year.) ^
Airport Express had... drum roll... 633.
Aug 25, 2010, 10:03 am
#162
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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.1-update1; en-us; A6277 Build/ERE27) AppleWebKit/530.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/530.17 Sprint APA6277KT)
LoL wow. Was there an expected number?
LoL wow. Was there an expected number?
Aug 26, 2010, 8:33 am
#163
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Those are interesting numbers. How many of those 26K+ were locals/airport workers and how many were farang passengers with luggage? The price difference is pretty large and the travel time difference between the two routes isn't so much, especially if you have to wait up to 30 minutes for an express train.
Or were some number also just curiosity seekers who hadn't ridden the system during the soft opening trips?
Or were some number also just curiosity seekers who hadn't ridden the system during the soft opening trips?
Aug 26, 2010, 8:51 am
#164
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I would assume a good portion of those are workers, students etc.
According to:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/tran...-link-discount
...the price for the express train will not increase until the baggage handling system is in place.
According to:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/tran...-link-discount
...the price for the express train will not increase until the baggage handling system is in place.
Aug 26, 2010, 8:59 am
#165
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Just saw this buried within an article:
Makkasan skywalk
The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) plans to build a 130-metre-long skywalk linking the Makkasan train station with the MRT subway on Phetchaburi Road and later expand the facility to other stations in central Bangkok.
Construction of the skywalk, scheduled for completion next year, is expected to cost 65 million baht. The SRT, meanwhile, will spend another 50 million baht on a new bridge linking Asok Road with Makkasan to facilitate motorists.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/travel/tr...-draw-in-korat
Makkasan skywalk
The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) plans to build a 130-metre-long skywalk linking the Makkasan train station with the MRT subway on Phetchaburi Road and later expand the facility to other stations in central Bangkok.
Construction of the skywalk, scheduled for completion next year, is expected to cost 65 million baht. The SRT, meanwhile, will spend another 50 million baht on a new bridge linking Asok Road with Makkasan to facilitate motorists.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/travel/tr...-draw-in-korat