I was on the new Airport Link yesterday to test it out (this is what you tell the taxi's if you want to go to one of there stations). First, there are 2 trains, the city train which stops at all stations at about the speed of the BTS. Timed it yesterday, Suvarnabhumi to Playathai, 30 minutes. Then there is the express which goes only from the Makkasan station to the airport (no stops) and really wings (I would guess at about 120 km/hour or more from what I saw). At Phayatai, after you arrive with the airport link, you walk down 2 floors and there is a walkway to the Phayathai BTS station at the level where you can buy your tickets for the BTS, so you don't really exit the transportation system. The Makkasan station is very close to the Phetburi MRT station, looks like about 200 yards/meters. Supposedly, they are building an underground walkway from the MRT station to the Airport Link lifts, but that is not done yet. Now you would exit one and walk street level to the other.
Cost: right now there is a promotion on the "city train" which is 15 baht one way, get off wherever you want, so you can go one stop or all seven. Supposedly this promotion ends in December and the "city train" (the slow one) will be priced similarly to the BTS (i.e., 15 baht for the first station and then a rising graduated cost depending on how far you go). This train now (and I would guess in the future) is used by people who live in the outward bound "moo baans" much more than simply airport travelers, at least that it my evaluation of what I saw. The cost for the express (according to the ticket sellers) is 100 baht round trip. I did not take it. Supposedly (again), Thai Air is to have a way to check in at Makkasan and let the traveller to the airport unhindered by luggage. This does not apply for other carriers.
Exit or entrance at the airport: If you go down to the first floor in Suvarnbhumi, at the furthest most public taxi stand (I want to say door 8, but I am not sure if those doors are number the same as the doors on the upper floors), you will see escalators going up and down, take the down escalator from the first floor and go down 2 floors and follow the signs to the airport link trains (a walk of about 100 meters/yards after you exit the escalators. For those of you with a lot of luggage, there are elevators as well.
Opinions: I got on the airport link at one of the smaller stations (the one in Klong Tan, it is called Lamkamhaeng station),the BTS itself is higher than the normal BTS and escalator up is not wide, so if you have a lot of luggage, it's an issue. They do have an elevator as well. The trains have room for luggage beside all the entry doors, but when this train is used for normal commuting (which it is now and will be in the future, same as the BTS), the luggage space will be minimal. And where are you going--if you're a monger and are staying somewhere on lower Sukhimvit, either you go to Phayathai and switch to BTS and come back to say Nana (a pain in the ass if you have a lot of luggage, or you could get off at Makkasan, walk the 200 yards to Phetburi MRT, go to Asoke and Sukhimvit and go from there, or exit anywhere and take a taxi. IMHO, its good if you travel light or are a commuter and have to fly. If you have a lot of luggage (define this yourself), it is better to spend the extra couple hundred baht and get door to door service, especially in the rainy season. I look at it much more as an extension to the BTS. The station at Rachaprarop, IMHO, is much closer to Panthip and Pratunam (meaning you still have to walk a little) than going to say either Chitlom or Rachatewi and walking, and there are some decent short cuts to Rachada by going to Makkasan rather than taking the long way around.
Anyway, these are my first impressions.
This post has been edited by khagai: 29 September 2010 - 03:26 AM
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gmid2006, on 24 August 2010 - 08:12 PM, said:
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