THAILAND TRAVEL NEWS: Thailand’s long awaited city to airport train service has finally commenced operation, but early indicators are that the service is set to become somewhat of a white elephant.

Originally scheduled to open in 2006 to coincide with the opening of Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport and built at a cost of more than Bt26 billion (about $US801.479 million), the 28.6km (17.77 mile) overhead system is currently in “soft launch” mode.

Though the main Airport Rail Link station is located at Makkasan, during the soft launch period passengers are only able to board the train at the Phaya Thai station that also has an interchange with the BTS Skytrain.

Styled along similar lines to Bangkok’s BTS Skytrain system, passengers will find the Siemens carriages are somewhat narrower than the BTS, with little space provided for passengers with large or bulky items of luggage.

At a cost of Bt150 ($US4.60) for the express service, most travelers will still need a taxi to get to an Airport Rail Link station adding a variable amount of time to the 16 minute express journey.

One recent comparison of traveling times and costs, including adding the regular charge for the Bangkok Airport Train, from a central Bangkok location found that by the time taxi travel and fares were factored in, using the rail link took 21 minutes longer than a taxi journey to the airport, and saved only Bt83 ($2.56) – including expressway tolls.

It is expected the Bangkok Airport Train will become fully operational in about three months after Siemens completes the installation of 70 surveillance cameras along the track and addresses the lack of radio communications in tunnels and stabilizes the systems power supply.

In the meantime passengers arriving at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport can try the service for free by going to the Bangkok Airport Train terminal in the basement of the main airport terminal.

By John Le Fevre

Thailand Travel News for June 18, 2010