The operator of Bangkok’s Yellow Line project will today begin a new round of trial runs in preparation for the opening of the new 30.4-kilometre monorail system, expected sometime early next year, said a source at the Ministry of Transport.
The test runs will be conducted manually on 16 of the 49-billion-baht electric rail system’s 23 stations. The stations are located between its depot on Srinagarindra Road and the line’s Lat Phrao station on Lat Phrao Road, said the source.
The fresh round of tests is the project’s longest and they follow satisfactory results with the previous testing on a shorter section of the line running along Srinagarindra Road only, said the source.
At present, the automatic operation of the monorail trains on the previously tested section runs smoothly and safely, said the source.
Today’s testing by Eastern Bangkok Monorail Co, the project operator, will deal with a 5km/hour run of the monorail train which will be manually controlled to see if it will run as it should and if anything needs to be corrected, said the source.
The overall construction of the Yellow Line project is now about 96.79% complete, with the electric rail operation system being about 96.56% complete and the rail tracks 100% complete, said the source.
Most of the remaining work still to be done is architectural at the stations which are expected to be completed before the project’s scheduled opening in early 2023, said the source.
A total of 30 Chinese-made Innovia Monorail 300 Bombardier trains, supplied by CRRC Puzhen Bombardier Transportation System Co, have already arrived and will be used in the test runs, said the source.
The Yellow Line, stretching from Lat Phrao in Bangkok through the eastern side of Bangkok to Samrong in Samut Prakan where it will connect with the city’s Green Line, is one of Bangkok’s first two monorail systems. The other monorail line is the Pink Line (Khae Rai-Min Buri).
Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob has instructed the Department of Rail Transport to keep fares on the line affordable, said the source.