Due to the delay in the Airport Rail Link project - a mass-transit line linking central Bangkok with Suvarnabhumi Airport - there has been no progress towards setting up any organisation or preparing staff for the project.

A source at the Transport Ministry was concerned over the delay of the establishment of a body to operate the Airport Rail Link, saying it would result in higher operational costs when the rail route finishes and opens for service.

The source said the SRT should be preparing to send some staff to learn route-operation and maintenance techniques from Siemens when test runs begin on the route.

Siemens has completed two out of a total of nine trains: four for express lines and five for city lines. It expects to deliver all of them on schedule this year.

Initially, Siemens will send experts to help SRT operate the route. "Route operation and maintenance is new for SRT, and it takes time to learn," said the source, adding that if SRT did not prepare staff in advance, it would have to hire staff from Siemens to operate the route, leading to higher operational costs.

Bangkok Metro (BMCL) spent several years preparing staff to operate the subway, in order to save on costs that would have been incurred from hiring high-salary international experts.

Meanwhile, the 28-kilometre long, Bt26-billion Airport Rail Link project from Makkasan to Suvarnabhumi Airport is now under consideration by the SRT board, which must decide whether the civil-engineering work under the responsibility of Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction will be allowed a further 500-day extension as requested.

The contractor cited delays in delivery by SRT of land prepared for construction as the cause of the delay in building the route.

As per the schedule, the project is supposed to open for service by year-end.

Watcharapong Thongrung

The Nation