Suvarnabhumi Airport Link - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Suvarnabhumi Airport Rail Link or SARL, is a rapid transit

Rapid transit

A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...

line in Bangkok

Bangkok

Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

. The line provides as an airport rail link

Airport rail link

An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport from an airport to a nearby city; by mainline- or commuter trains, rapid transit, people mover or light rail...

from Suvarnabhumi Airport

Suvarnabhumi Airport

Suvarnabhumi Airport , also known as Bangkok International Airport, is an international airport serving Bangkok, Thailand. It was officially opened for limited domestic flight service on 15 September 2006, and opened for most domestic and all international commercial flights on 28 September...

, via Makkasan city air terminal, to Phaya Thai station

Phaya Thai Airport Link Station

Phaya Thai station is a rapid transit station of the in Ratchathewi District, Bangkok, Thailand. The station is located over eastern railway at the level crossing on Phaya Thai Road. It is direct interchange to BTS at another westward Phaya Thai Station. The station is among the government...

in central Bangkok. Most of the line is on a viaduct

Viaduct

A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...

over the main eastern railway. It is owned by State Railway of Thailand

State Railway of Thailand

The State Railway of Thailand is the state-owned rail operator in Thailand. The network sees around 50 million passengers per annum.-History:SRT was founded as the Royal State Railways of Siam in 1890...

(SRT) and operated by SRT subsidiary SRT Electrified Train (SRTET). Opened on August 23, 2010, the 28.6-km route is the fourth rapid transit line in Bangkok, after 2 BTS and 1 MRT line. Services consists of two Express Lines, a 15-minute nonstop service between the Makkasan city air terminal and the airport and an 18-minute nonstop service between Phaya Thai and the airport, and the City Line, a commuter rail service with 8 stations.

History

The key airport link contract was signed in January 2005, and construction began in July 2005. The line is built by a consortium of B Grimm, STECON and Siemens

Siemens AG

Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....

, and is owned and operated by State Railway of Thailand

State Railway of Thailand

(SRT). The estimated cost of the project is 25.9 billion baht.

The line is built largely along the same alignment as the failed Bangkok Elevated Road and Train System

Bangkok Elevated Road and Train System

The Bangkok Elevated Road and Train System , commonly known as the Hopewell Project after main contractor Hopewell Holdings, was a failed project to build an elevated highway and rail line from central Bangkok to Don Muang Airport...

(BERTS) project, started by Hopewell

Hopewell Holdings

Hopewell Holdings Limited ,, established on 17 October, 1972], is a Hong Kong-listed infrastructure and property firm headed by Sir Gordon Wu.-History:It was listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in 1972....

but stopped in 1997 when only 10% had been completed. Some BERTS pillars stood in the way of the new system, and after extensive debate on their suitability for reuse and demands for compensation from Hopewell, SRT decided to demolish the pillars and build new ones.

While originally scheduled to be completed by 2006, the Hopewell debacle, an extended bidding process and a series of legal challenges from property owners who had encroached on SRT's land, have repeatedly delayed the project. Initial test runs were conducted in October 2009, with a free limited trial service open to the public running from April 2010 and full commercial service launched on 23 August 2010.

Extension continuing along the SRT Red Lines

SRT Red Lines

-Overview:The SRT Red Lines are a planned elevated metro system in Bangkok, Thailand.The lines will be operated by the State Railway of Thailand or SRT....

(former BERTS) alignment from Phaya Thai to Bang Sue is also planned. The line may be extended to Don Mueang

Don Mueang

Don Mueang is one of the 50 districts of Bangkok, Thailand. It is bounded by : Amphoe Mueang and Amphoe Lam Luk Ka of Pathum Thani Province; Sai Mai, Bang Khen and Lak Si of Bangkok; and Amphoe Pak Kret of Nonthaburi Province....

(site of Don Mueang International Airport) depending on Don Muaeng Airport's usage policy. In addition, the eastern section of the SRT Light Red Line commuter rapid transit, if built, will utilize the right of way of the SRL, with interchange provided at SARL at Phayathai, Makkasan and Hua Mak station.

Passive provision is being made for an extension of the rail link to a future second terminal at Suvarnabhumi airport.

Operations

The ARL operates daily from 6:00 a.m. to 12 midnight, and both the City Line and Express Line trains depart every 15 minutes. Between 23 August 2010 and 3 January 2011, passengers were charged a promotional fare of 15 Baht or 100 Baht on the City Line and Express Line service, respectively. On 4 January 2011, a standard fare of 15 to 45 Baht or 150 Baht was introduced for the City Line and Express Line service, respectively.

Since 4 January 2011, baggage check-in service is offered to passengers traveling on flights operated by Thai Airways International

Thai Airways International

Thai Airways International Public Company Limited is the national flag carrier and largest airline of Thailand. Formed in 1988, the airline's headquarters are located in Chatuchak District, Bangkok, and operates out of Suvarnabhumi Airport. Thai is a founding member of the Star Alliance. Thai is a...

from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., daily. Passengers checking in at Makkasan station (the city air terminal) are required to purchase an Express Line ticket and check in at least 3 hours prior to flight departure, or up to 12 hours in advance. Bangkok Airways

Bangkok Airways

Bangkok Airways Co., Ltd. is a regional airline based in Chatuchak District, Bangkok, Thailand. It operates scheduled services to destinations in Thailand, Cambodia, China, Laos, Maldives, Burma, India and Singapore...

discontinued baggage check-in service in this facility on 13 June 2011.

On 1 June 2011 additional Express Line services became available between Phaya Thai station and the airport with a total journey time of 18 minutes. A promotional fare of 90/150 for a single/return trip (within 14 days) on the Express Line was also introduced.

Specifications

The standard gauge

Standard gauge

The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

line is 28.6 km long and is elevated, running above the existing eastern railway, with an underground terminal at the airport. Both non-stop Suvarnabhumi Airport Express services and "stopping" Suvarnabhumi Airport City Line commuter services are operated, with Express journeys taking 15 minutes and Commuter trips 27 minutes.

Siemens supplied nine Desiro

Desiro

The Siemens Desiro is a family of diesel or electric multiple unit passenger trains. The main variants are the Desiro Classic, Desiro ML, Desiro UK and the future Desiro City and Desiro RUS. The trains are mostly used for commuter and regional services, and their rapid acceleration makes them...

Class 360/2

British Rail Class 360

The British Rail Class 360 electric multiple units were built by Siemens in two sub-types from 2002-2003 and 2004-2005. These units are part of the Siemens Desiro family.The Siemens "Desiro UK" family also includes units of Classes 185, 350, 380, 444 and 450....

trainsets. The only significant difference from the UK units is a much larger air-conditioning pod on the roof, providing extra power to cope with the Thai climate. City services will be operated by five three-car trains, and the Express services by four trainsets with a fourth car for check-in baggage. The first trains left Germany in September 2007, and testing in Bangkok began in March 2008.

The line is electrified at 25 kV

Volt

The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential, electric potential difference, and electromotive force. The volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta , who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery.- Definition :A single volt is defined as the...

AC power

Power in an electric circuit is the rate of flow of energy past a given point of the circuit. In alternating current circuits, energy storage elements such as inductance and capacitance may result in periodic reversals of the direction of energy flow...

. All stations were built to accommodate 10-car trains, and the express train platform of Makkasan station and all platforms at Suvarnabhumi are fitted with platform automatic screen doors

Platform screen doors

Platform screen doors and platform edge doors at train or subway stations screen the platform from the train. They are a relatively new addition to many metro systems around the world, with some platform doors retrofitted rather than installed with the metro system itself. They are widely used in...

. The top speed is 160 km/h, but the short distances between the stations imply that commuter services don't reach that speed.

At Makkasan and Suvarnabhumi, both lines have their own tracks and platforms. At Hua Mak the express line can bypass the city line via a passing loop.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Operations

Specifications

See also

External links