Is the airport link safe for pedestrians?

Is the airport link safe for pedestrians?

From THE NATION – LETTERS TO EDITOR

In response to the recent editorial on the Airport Link, I would like to add a few things. Once you get on the train the ride is mostly fast and efficient. With that said, and bearing in mind that we understand that mega-projects are not completed on time and the finishing touches still need to be put in place, there are some questions concerning logistics and coordination between local offices and state agencies.

On my first trip on the airport link my mind wandered back to two years ago when I saw a schoolgirl not more than 10 years old right under the tracks of the airport link trying to cross Srinakarin Road. She looked stressed, as she seemed to be looking to cross with an adult, but all the adults had already made their wild dash across the street. No pedestrian walkway was anywhere close to the tracks, and that girl and many others had no choice but to cross in unsafe conditions.  

Surely the airport link has installed a pedestrian walkway now? Afraid not. Have the airport link officials, the Bangkok governor, councillors, BMA officials, or police had the foresight to coordinate with each other? Do they know what is going on at street level? Have any of them ridden the link and made recommendations? Commuters have no choice but to educate themselves on what to do. Minibus 207 thinks it’s fine to sit on the SRT tracks and wait for customers. Songtaews and pickups linger on the tracks, creating the potential for accidents.

Motorists have started parking anywhere, even near the link’s exits.

Have any of them recommended installing sidewalks as soon as possible from the station to the main street at Hua Mak and Lat Krabang? During the trial period underneath the Hua Mak station to Srinakarin Road it was very dark. Now that it is open until midnight, are the lights on? It happens that this is one of Bangkok‘s darkest areas and it is not recommended for a woman walking alone.

Now that the airport link is open, can the SRT and link officials coordinate with the BMTA and Transport Ministry to assure commuters can take connecting transportation to get to their destination as easily as possible? Allowing microbuses entrance to the area to pick up customers should be an option.

Going to the airport at this year’s flat rate of Bt15 is too cheap. Why can’t the SRT add a surcharge of maybe Bt5 or Bt10? The added money for the SRT could go to fixing the waiting areas at the main stations, making the toilets free of charge, making it safer for pedestrians to get to the airport link, MRT and Skytrain, and improving pedestrian walkways.

Here are some recommendations: pedestrian walkways on the main streets (Srinakarin and Ramkhamhaeng); sidewalks from stations to the main streets; more lighting for Srinakarin and Lat Krabang stations; easier and safer passage at the Makkasan Phaya Thai and Rajprarop stops; more coordination between agencies; more parking for park-and-ride

TOM DER

BANGKOK

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2010/09/01/opinion/Is-the-airport-link-safe-for-pedestrians-30136992.html

ED – Does anybody know if there is any free parking at the airport for car drivers going to catch the airlink trains, or are the options limited to paying in the airports multi-storey car park or parking way over at the  long stay car park near the inconveniently placed bus station? Anybody know?