Anyone visiting Bangkok in Thailand will find that the traffic,like many large cities, is pretty horrendous. Going anywhere by road is subject to long delays unless you jump on the back of a Taxi bike that can weave through the snarl-ups. However in recent years some new rapid transit systems have started up that make getting around very pleasant indeed. The main one is the Skytrain, properly known as the BTS, which is an elevated system that runs through the heart of the city giving you specatular views as it does so. when I last visited it ran from Mo Chit in the north to On Nut in the east on one line and from the National stadium in the west to Saphan Thaksin in the south on the other. I beleive since then that it is being extended in various places. Tickets are cheap and an 'all day' one gives you the freedom of the city. Stock is modern and air conditioned and some of the units are decorated with large advertising graphics the stations are immaculately clean and there are staff on the platforms, who will start blowing a whistle very vigorously at you if you get too near the platform edge.Explaining that you are taking pictures cuts no ice with them however. There is also an underground system, equally modern, that goes from the main railway station at Hua Lamphong to the railway station at Bang Sue. For a trainspotter this is very handy indeed! I have yet to take a picture of this system as the platforms are glass walled with sliding doors (to stop jumpers) but the main maintenance depot is above ground and I am going to try and blag my way in next time I'm there.
The modernity of the current system is in marked contrast to the old Bangkok tramway of which I have found two surviving trams One is in the little railway museum at Chatuchak park it is in very good condition unlike the one at the Ekkamai science museum which is, like all of their rail exhibits, dumped outside in shabby grey primer.
Airport link The other big rapid transit system underway in Thailand is the new high speed rail link to the new international airport. Suvarnabhumi airport has replaced the old Don Muang airport as the destination for international flights in and out of Thailand. The new elevated line connecting the airport to a city terminal at Makkasan, Bangkok is however well behind schedule and way over budget. The line runs from Makkasan and parralels the S.R.T eastern route for quite a distance here you can see the concrete pillars towering over Makkasan You can see the existing eastern line at ground level and S.R.Ts main railway workshops in the background. This is a typical view as you get out into the country taken from a Bangkok-Chachoengsao junction train Construction of one of the stations is seen here Ban Thap Chang will be served by both the airport line and S.R.T. The rolling stock will be the well proved 'Desiro' units of which more later.
returning to the two existing systems B.T.S and the M.R.T underground here is a map showing the two systems The Skytrain tickets are very colourful and varied The underground uses magnetic tokens that you swipe through the turnstiles with.
Kevsmith, welcome to Trainboard, nice pictures. I'd like to know about the transit system in your hometown. Bangkok's transit system is in need of major "upgrade". P.S. Will you be taking Train 901/902 (Steam Excursion, Bangkok-Ayuttaya) on 23/10/2008?
Thanks for your welcome. Where I live we have not got any rapid transit system. It is a remote area of lakes,mountains and the Irish sea. The railway in the area is called the Cumbrian coast line and was built by the Furness railway over a 150 years ago. there is a good passenger service and I happen to work for the main freight operator on the line a company called Direct Rail Services. one thing about the line is we get a fair few steam powered excursions up the line during the summer. Sadly I won't be in Thailand for your steam excursion but hope to get back there next spring. I have a lot of stuff I want to photograph and I also want to go on the new line over the border into Laos. I'll dig out some pics of the Cumbrian Coast and start a new thread at some stage
