SRT adds slow train as commuters slam Airport Rail Link

Airport Rail Link passengers alignt at Makkasan station on Friday. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)

The State Railway of Thailand has added an extra daily train service to its city timetable, as Airport Rail Link commuters continue to air their frustration over packed carriages and long queues on social media - but the trip takes nearly twice as long.

The new local train leaves Lat Prabang station for Hua Lamphong at 7.45am, with the return trip starting at Phaya Thai temporary stop to Lat Krabang at 6.45pm. The additional weekday service began on Friday and can take about 600 passengers.

SRT Electric Train Co, a subsidiary of the SRT, hoped the new train would help alleviate problems experienced by commuters struggling to get on the Airport Link trains during rush hours. (continues below)

Commuters take the new slow train service from Lat Krabang to Bangkok on Friday morning. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)

People relying on the service to get to work in the city in the morning and back home afterwards have been venting their frustration over the long wait for a train, the crowded stations and packed carriages on social media, mainly Twitter.

They have posted photos of long queues and messages complaining of suffering from waiting for one train after another, only to find there was no room and they could not board them. "It's terrible, " a Tweeter account named @Jeejoy2 tweeted.

Another photo showed people lining up from Phaya Thai BTS station all the way to Makkasan station to take an Airport Rail Link train on Thursday.

"That's too much," @jandthisworldd wrote on the Twitter account on Thursday. (continues)

A long line of passengers waiting for an Airport Rail Link train at Makkasan station on Thursday. (Photo from @jandthisworldd Twitter account)

On Thursday, station staff had to limit the number of passengers going up onto the platform at Lat Krabang, Thap Chang and Hua Mak stations for their own safety. The rest had to wait in line until there was room on the platform, and then they still had to get on board a train.

It also moved the first train leaving Suvarnabhumi airport forwards from 6am to 5.30am, hoping to ease the problem.

Although the new once-a-day each way slow train launched on Friday between Lat Krabang and the city was welcomed by commuters many still commented on the airport train's own Facebook account that the operator should address the core cause of the problem.

"Why don't you buy new trains? If you cannot run this service, please get out," one comment said.

"The local train takes 40 minutes from Lat Krabang to Makkasan, but the Airport Rail Link takes only 25 minutes. That's why passengers fight to get on board," another added.

The problem is that Airport Rail Link does not have enough trains to cope with the increasing number of passengers.

The number of riders has risen from about 53,000 a day in 2015 to 70,000 this year, but the number of trains remains the same, just nine of them - and some out of service for maintenance and awaiting spare parts.

The Transport Ministry, which oversees the railway agency, knows about the problem, but there is no guarantee it will be fixed anytime soon. Packed trains maximise ticket sales and revenue - but leave commuters unhappy.

Deputy Transport Minister Pailin Chuchottaworn went to the Airport Rail Link to get first-hand experience of the problem on Friday. He said the company is "rushing" to buy needed spare parts from overseas and delivery is expected soon, which should keep all nine trains running.

But he did not say anything about when additional trains would be added to the service.

It seems that plan is on hold, indefinitely.

In February, Mr Pailin said the purchase of seven new trains should be delayed until the government had granted a concession to a firm for the planned high-speed train connecting Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-Tapao airports - part of the state’s much-touted Eastern Economic Corridor.