Monorail disruption hampers newly launched Yellow Line service in Bangkok

Traffic disruption was recently experienced on the Yellow Line monorail after a technical glitch occurred just 20 days into the trial runs. The disruption resulted in the temporary closure of five stations from Lat Phrao 101 to Hua Mak for approximately 90 minutes yesterday.

At 7am, an electrical problem surfaced which consequently halted operations, thereby marking the first instance of such a monorail disruption fault since all 23 stations on the line became fully functional on June 19.

Efforts to alleviate traffic congestion and monorail disruption were set in motion at 8.28am and normality was restored at around 10.15am.

In an unrelated development, the Department of Rail Transport (DRT) and other concerned entities are planning to expedite the improvement process for signs that indicate the connection between the Yellow Line’s Lat Phrao and the MRT’s Blue Line Stations.

Eastern Bangkok Monorail (EBM), under the guidance of the DRT’s Director-General, Pichet Kunadhamraks, has been tasked with the improvement of the signs located at Exit 3 of the Yellow Line’s Lat Phrao station. On the other hand, the Bangkok Expressway and Metro (BEM) will be responsible for Exit 4 on the Blue Line’s Lat Phrao station.

Concurrently, the EBM has been instructed by the DRT to increase the frequency of trains, due to a surge in passengers using the line to commute to Lat Phrao station, especially noticeable during the morning and evening peak hours.

This sudden increase in passengers, from 65,511 commuters on June 19 to 72,807 commuters on June 20, can be attributed to the recent extension of operating hours from 6am to 7am and again from 5pm to 8pm, reported Bangkok Post.

For this reason, EBM was urged by the DRT to decrease the interim between rides from every ten minutes to every five minutes during peak hours — a recommendation set to be put into effect by the following week, according to Kunadhamraks.

The 30.4 kilometre-long Yellow Line Monorail extends from the Green Line at Samrong Station, the Airport Rail Link at Hua Mak Station, through to the Blue Line at Lat Phrao Station.