PUBLISHED : 31 Mar 2024 at 14:25
Bangkok’s Yellow Line monorail has resumed service but it will take about two to three months to finish improvements to its guideway beams after bolts, brackets, an expansion joint plate and a conductor rail fell down last week.
Pichet Kunathamaraks, director-general of the Department of Rail Transport, on Sunday gave the timeframe after inspecting the damage to the Yellow Line system on Saturday.
The inspection followed an incident on Thursday morning last week when a finger plate of an expansion joint on one of the Yellow Line’s guideway beams fell onto Srinagarindra Road.
Mr Pichet blamed the incident on loosened bolts, resulting in the finger plate falling to the ground between Suan Luang Rama IX (YL15) and Si Udom (YL16) stations.
Loosened bolts also caused a conductor rail section to fall onto a walkway on the monorail structure between Kalantan (YL12) and Si Udom (YL16) stations, he said. Brackets from the conductor rail fell to the ground.
The department ordered Yellow Line operator Eastern Bangkok Monorail Co (EBM) to tighten and later replace all the bolts that fasten the finger plates of expansion joints on Yellow Line guideway beams. The company was also ordered to secure all the brackets on conductor rails. The task was estimated to take two to three months, Mr Pichet said.
During the period, one of two guideway beams on the Yellow Line is closed between Hua Mak (YL11) and Si Iam (YL17) stations. The remaining beam remains operational but the interval between trains is 25 minutes.
Train intervals on the rest part of the Yellow Line – between Lat Phrao (YL01) and Hua Mak (YL11) stations and between Si Iam (YL17) and Samrong (YL23) stations – are 5-10 minutes.
During the period Yellow Line fares will be cut by 20%.
The monorail operators were also instructed to increase the frequencies of its monorail inspections to ensure safety.
