Trains can take strain

Source: Bangkok Post, ThailandJan.迷利倉 11--The skytrain and subway will operate at maximum capacity on Monday to serve high traffic during the Bangkok shutdown to help commuters and protesters.Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc (BTSC), which operates the skytrain, will use all 50 of its trains on services, with 35 on the Sukhumvit Line and 15 on the Silom Line.The interval between trains for the longer Sukhumvit Line will be cut from three minutes to 2.4 minutes, while the Silom Line will be unchanged at 4.3 minutes due to the bottleneck at Taksin Bridge station, said Anat Arbhabhirama, an adviser to BTSC's board of directors.With all trains in service, the skytrain can accommodate 800,000 travellers a day. Ridership peaked at 780,000 in 2012, while 760,000 used the skytrain on the day of massive anti-government rallies organised by the People's Democratic Reform Committee late last month."Most of the people expected to use the skytrain on the day of the shutdown are the protesters themselves, so we want to facilitate them in moving from one place to another as quickly as possible," Mr Anat told the Bangkok Post.To serve high traffic and prevent long queues, the skytrain is promoting the use of a one-day ticket costing 130 baht that allows unlimited travel.Customers will also be urged to buy two single tickets at one time for their return trip and to buy the maximum 42-baht ticket so that they can exit wherever they want."Some protesters are not used to skytrain services, so they don't know exactly which station to get off to join the rallies. The last time there were massive rallies, we experienced congestion at stations around protest areas, as people had to pay more money to exit," Mr Anat said."If the traffic is too large to service using only tickets, we may allow people to use cash for their trips."The skytrain will deploy all staff on Monday to ensure security. The system has been tested to avoid a repetition of the service disruption caused by a signal fault on Dec 24."I cannot guarantee 100% that it will not happen, but we will do the best we can to prevent迷你倉major disruption," said Mr Anat.Attacks on the skytrain are unlikely from "friendly protesters", but maximum security measures will be in place in case of emergency, he said.While the skytrain has not decided whether to extend service hours beyond midnight, the Airport Rail Link (ARL) and subway could extend service to 2am if demand is high.Chaiwat Utaiwan, president of Bangkok Metro Plc, said traffic on the subway line is expected to be high all day on Monday, although many companies in Bangkok will likely allow staff to work from home.The subway operator has not decided to increase train frequency, but Mr Chaiwat said this could be done quickly if needed.Normally, trains arrive every minute during rush hours from 7-9am and 4.30-7pm and every 7-8 minutes at off-peak times.The subway can accommodate 350,000 passengers a day, and Mr Chaiwat expects ridership will be close to 300,000 on Monday.Single-trip tokens will be available for passengers to buy from staff at stations in addition to vending machines to save time and avoid congestion."We don't feel any threat in terms of safety, but if there is any emergency, gates or stations will be shut down immediately. We did that when the big floods [in late 2011] hit three stations," Mr Chaiwat said.Demonstrators have announced that they will not seize mass transit systems or the airport, so commuters are recommended to use mass transit including the ARL.All areas expected to be occupied by protesters are relatively close to skytrain and subway stations.Business operators are advised to monitor websites of state agencies if the protest turns violent or is prolonged.The Transport Ministry expects the number of boat commuters using Khlong Saen Saep to hit 100,000 on Monday compared with 60,000 normally.Special boat services will operate from seven jetties in Bangkok, while public buses will be arranged to take commuters to other transport services.Copyright: ___ (c)2014 the Bangkok Post (Bangkok, Thailand) Visit the Bangkok Post (Bangkok, Thailand) at .bangkokpost.com Distributed by MCT Information Services自存倉