BTSC told to explain Yellow Line mishap
Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit scheduled urgent talks with Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTSC) on Wednesday over an incident on Tuesday evening involving a Yellow Line monorail train, a news source said.
A wheel fell off a Yellow Line train and hit a taxi on Thepharak Road in Samut Prakan province at around 6.30pm Tuesday. No casualties were reported.
The train was running outbound and had almost reached Si Thepha station when the accident occurred.
Suriya and other officials inspected the scene on Tuesday night and a preliminary investigation revealed that the rubber wheel could have fallen off due to a damaged ball bearing.
Suriya said the ministry would record the incident on the operator’s service history, and might consider barring it from bidding on future projects if any more accidents were to occur.
The source added that the talks on Wednesday would focus on the cause of the accident, as well as the safety and maintenance measures that train operators must take to ensure passenger safety.
Tuesday’s incident came just nine days after a 4-km length of electrical conductor rail became dislodged from the Pink Line monorail on Tiwanon Road in Nonthaburi province. Three vehicles were damaged but there were no casualties.
Both the Yellow and Pink lines are operated by subsidiaries of BSR JV Consortium, a joint venture between BTSC, Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction, and Ratch Group.
The Yellow Line spans 30.4 kilometres from northern Bangkok to Samut Prakan in the southern suburbs with 23 stations. Commercial operations began in July last year.
