TRANSPORT Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit inspected the spot in Nonthaburi where three kilometres of MRT Pink Line’s conductor rail fell on the road before dawn this morning (Dec. 24) and ordered the closure of service on this route for seven days, Naewna newspaper said.
Preliminary investigation showed that this accident stemmed from construction not system error, he said, while urging the public to have confidence in the monorail lines.
It appears that dirt got stuck in the train wheels and upon running scraped the rail causing it to fall. A crane may be used to pull up sheet piles that cause the dirt to get stuck on these wheels, he explained.
Conductor rail is a special power transmission system installed along the track and supplies electric energy to the train.
He added that traffic on this road will likely run as normal tomorrow.
Earlier the operator of MRT Pink Line announced the temporary suspension of test runs to all 30 stations on this route from Khae Rai to Min Buri after three kilometres of conductor rail fell on the road from overhead track in Pak Kret district, Nonthaburi province.
An announcement on the MRT Pink Line Facebook Page said: “Due to an incident involving conductor rail, the MRT Pink Line will be temporarily suspending trial run services to all stations, pending further investigation of the root cause. We will update progress when information is available.”
Meanwhile Skytrain operator BTS Group Holdings Plc, which has a 75% majority stake in the BSR consortium that operates the Pink Line with the rest split between Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction Plc and Ratch Group Plc, sent its officials to investigate the accident, TV Channel 7 said.
Teams were working on fastenting the three-kilometre stretch of conductor rail that fell from Royal Irrigation Department to Khae Rai intersection to anchor points and ensure this does not happen again.
Two large cranes also hastened to lift the rail from three vehicles that it fell on.
Meanwhile, Pak Kret police station summoned both officials operating this section of the monorail and BTS Group to give an explanation about this accident and quickly determine the cause.
CAPTION:
Scenes of Pink Line conductor rail falling on the ground before dawn today, Dec. 24, 2023, with an image of Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit inset in above picture and fifth and sixth below. All photos:Naewna
Also read: Pink Line rail falls on three vehicles, snaps power pole
Russian tourists rescued after huge waves split boat in half off Pattaya
70 tourists rescued after night boat founders off Koh Tao
At least 120 dead, 850 injured in massive train crash in Odisha, India
Insurgent badly hurt while placing bomb in Yala
Rider dies in collision with train in Ayutthaya
Italian man dies in fall from Skytrain station
Man saved from jumping down from BTS Asoke station
