Good point.

The Enforcer!

First stewp is to add more csh fro SRT to pay the credfitors for thsi project ... Otherwise, we cannot see Airport Link Running :(

SRT Board extending the deadly by 389 Days - short from 552 Days requested by STECON

Thaipost - May 4, 2007

SRT Board insisting that they can extend the deadline for 28.5-km Airprot Link & city Air terminal by 389 days after the original deadline of 990 days (Nov. 5, 2007) - short from 552 days requested by STECON.

The resolution from SRT Board alogn with the progress report and the problem reports will be delivered to PM Surayut nexxt week so the governemtn can form a committee to finance Airport Link for SRT - with a price tag of 25.907 billion Baht.


STECON still INSISTs they are deserved 552 Day extension, not merely 289 days.


The way to refinance this project are

1. Negotiating with the original creditors and SRT is willing to accept the daily payment of interests at 3 million Baht a day (total about 1 billion Baht)

2. Askign the goverenmtn to grant emergency budget to finance the project.


The progress for Airport link (latest at April 30, 2007)
1. 60.97% DONE - short form the target 97.44%
2. Civil work is 24.49% done - short form the target 47.30%
3. Electric and mechanic sections - 36.47% done - short from the target 50.14%

The contractor has got 10.88 billion Baht for the payment - 185 short from the target.

SRT Board also approve the 24th and the 25th payment to the contractors at 600 million Baht.

STECON has made a reservation of 1.2 billion Baht fro the construction loss.
STECON lamented that this Airprot link cause heavy loss for the company even thouhg not so much ... but it woudl be better if the extension is longer than 398 days.

I suspect that once the Anti-Corruption Commission investigation is complete then there will be a few having to face the music.

Airport Rail Link project leaves the burden on State Railways Watcharapong Thongrung The Nation 15/05/07

The Airport Rail Link project is believed to be suffering from business favours granted to private companies, resulting in an estimated increased burden of Bt2.8 billion to the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), that agency's chief finance officer, Arak Ratbaraharn, said yesterday. The project will link Suvarnabhumi Airport to inner Bangkok.

Arak said Bt1.6 billion of the total Bt2.8 billion was from front-end fees paid to loan creditors, which are financial institutions. The remaining Bt1.2 billion is from total interest calculated from the delay of an estimated 398 days before the project's delivery due date of November 5. Previously, the contractors asked for a 552-day extension of the project. "The SRT in fact should not pay front-end fees at such a level, higher than the market rate," Arak said, adding that one cause of the delay was the SRT's failure to deliver the land for construction. This, therefore, became the reason for the contractors asking for an extension on delivering the project's construction.

However, Arak said that a committee recently established and chaired by deputy SRT governor Nakorn Chantasorn would be assigned to investigate who was responsible for this case, which occurred during the term of the previous SRT governor. Moreover, he said the committee would negotiate with the contractor before August 5, to finalise how long the delay of the project delivery should be extended. The Airport Rail Link project's contractors are B Grim International, Siemens, B Grim MBM Hong Kong and Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction. The project's civil-engineering work would cost Bt25.9 billion.

I may be wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be a case of setting the fox to guard the henhouse! If they were really serious they would bring in an outsider with no prior connections to the project to investigate it. Do they really think that a deputy governor didn't know about and wasn't involved in the corruption? Either he knew about it at the time and ignored it or participated it, or he wasn't aware of what was going on, in which case I would question his competence!

Much of life works like this!

The Enforcer!

Latest News (June 6, 2007)

Overall: 63% Done (lagged behind the target by 34%)
Main Infratructure: 54% Done
Rolling Stock: 71% Done

Now, the fist set of Ariprot Express is undergoing the system testing before the delivery to Thailand in October 2007


SRT expected that at the Deadline of Nov 5, 2007, the overall project is 75% Done ... Therefore, SRT is goign to negotiate with Ministry of Finance with the follwing 3 alternatives to handle the financial matters of this project

1) Extending the loan until the project is DONE.
2) Extending the loan until the project is DONE, but SRT has to pay the outstanding interests of the loan of 1.4 billion Baht
3) Massive refinanacing the loan.

This negotiation will be executed alogn with the plan to extend the project by 468 Days ....

I notice from the 2B frontpage pictures that sometimes the adjacent SRT line is single-track and sometimes double. I thought it was double all the way from Yommaraj junction to Hua Mark?

The Enforcer!

No. In fact, if I am not terribly wrong, it is all single track from Yommarat to Hua Mark. (It is definitely so between Phayathai and east of Khlong Tan (Nasa Vegas)).

So are you saying that picture 'IMG_0036' is after Huamark as it is showing double-track?

The Enforcer!

Yeah, it is quite far out. I think the highrises in the background are along/near Si Nakharin. And doesn't that spire to the left of the billboards belong to one of the unfinished mosques at the motorway? So it would seem this is between Ban Thap Chang and Hua Mark, looking west.

http://www.2bangkok.com/07/IMG_0036.jpg

.....that's also why I was a bit worried about the possible effect on train operations when they removed the passing loop at Khlong Tan Station back in February.

For the case of Klong Tan station, SRT has to remove the old passing loop and build the new one on the same side as the staion .. but at the east of station beyond the flyover to Ekkamai road.

Similar thign can be said to Makkasan station, the new passign loop of Makkasan station has been rebuilt east of the Switchign Tower of Makkasan station.

This will minimize the detrimental impact of the construction of Airport Link.

Why not just double-track the whole line, it must need it?

The Enforcer!

Not Enough Intercity traffic for Eastern lines to justify Double tracking for the section form Hua mark to Makkasan or so ....

Never forget that Ther is NO express service on Eastern line at the time being ...

Khun Wisarut, I would have suspected that with all those buses going to Chachongsao (spelling), Chonburi and Pattaya that there would be sufficient patonage for a realiable and quick Intercity service every 30 mins. I thought that this was the whole plan to increase services given the new tracks that were laid and stations built a few years ago? And isn't this the SRT plan for the Intercity services that are proposed.

BTW, there not enough aircon passenger carriages and loco or even aircon DMUs to allow intercity services in Eastern lines ... Isan lines, Norhtern lines and SOuthern lien have grobbled those carriagfes while Laemchabang Caregos has hoarded the servicabloe locos for cargo services, leavign virtually no extra carriage for Eastern lines.

...and, of course, the bus mafia politicians will not allow the express rail network to expand to Pattaya.

The Enforcer!

Commuter stations?
 

Has any work started on the intermediate commuter stations between Suvarnabhumi and Makkasan? Or has the entire commuter service now been put on the back burner because of the issues with the Makkasan-Phayathai stretch? :confused:

Errr? Issues? Sorry missed this.

The Enforcer!

Not really. Just the very basics: different types of pillars than elsewhere, and sometimes raw concrete structures to house the future stations (e.g. visible in Lat Krabang, at the motorway exit that leads to the airport cargo area).

And by the way, the depot is still not going up. Only the foundations are finished (or so it seems). I pass there every day.

It's really all proceeding at snail's pace. :( :mad:

(What is the reason, I wonder? Almost looks like insufficient manpower and equipment available. Possibly cash flow problems on part of the contractors?)

See eg. this post by K. Wisarut. Actual construction work appears to only have started this year.

Thanks - obviously I am getting senile.

The Enforcer!

So these photos I linked to were taken last November. And currently it still looks very similar to that. Foundation plates finished, but no further construction above ground. :(

This is in stark contrast to the city Air Terminal at Makkasan, which is apparently making good progress, with huge roof structures being erected.

By the way, here you can see the former passing loop at Khlong Tan (=the rail on the left, now removed and replaced with the Airport Link pillars):
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/7509/s3013974fr6.jpg

Now, the latest news is that STECOn has to pay fine since MOT refused to grant any further extension after the project has reached the expired date od Novemeber 2007 ...

I read the project was 50% behind schedule and already 30% over budget.
The project is expected to be atleast 16 months behind schedule not including the 3 month testing period with the earliest opening date to be in 2009.

The budget is already well over 20 billion baht with no end in the possible future. The construction company was initially to fork the bill then get paid after work was finished but it looks like the company might go under aka. Hopewell.

Now, Airport Link is 65.67% Done .... and the punishment for STECOn who associated wiuth the old regime is comign soon ....

MOT - SRT Agree to Allow the Extension for the Constructio of Ariport Link to STECON ... but they reserive the right to cancel the construction if there are any more irregularities. Allowign onlyu abotu 378-Day extension insterado fo 463 days as requested by STECON.

http://www.manager.co.th/Business/Vi...=9500000096292


The First Lot of Airportr Express Rolling Stock (8 carriages = 2 sets) will be at Laem Chabang by the end of October 2007 ... Intrastructure will be done by the end of May 2008 ... and elerctyrification will b e done by the end of October 2008.... After that, 60 daty testing .... before official oepning in Jan 2009

Now it is 40% done at Suvannabhum Station at the Airport and Makkasan Station
http://www.manager.co.th/Home/ViewNe...=9500000095171

After receivng the Threat from KBank & SCB, SRT has appealed that Airport link is 67.74% done (targeted at 90.97%) .... Crteditor has paid STECON 13 billion Baht out of 25.9 billion Baht ... paid 27 times

http://www.manager.co.th/Business/Vi...=9500000095352
http://www.manager.co.th/Business/Vi...=9500000095960

KBank Giving Suggesstion that MoF better borrow from KBank and SCB to finanace Airport Link and issue Government Bond to pay back to Creeditors

http://www.matichon.co.th/matichon/m...sectionid=0103

The Jan 09 opening is I think about what many of have said previously in this thread. However, based on past timelines and the short testing period between Oct 08 and Jan 09, I guess the opening date will be a few months later. Makkasan will still take some time to fin but what about the depot which seems to have started late.

I only hope that STECON doesn't cut corners in quality to save time given the shortened construction deadline. Also, if they do go under and the MoF bails them out it will not bode well for the future govt deciding to extend the line to Bang Sue and DM as needs to happen sooner rather than later.

TRANSPORT / AIRPORT LINK Banks demand state guarantees for project
DARANA CHUDASRI Bkk Post 20/08/07

Local banks say they remain interested in financing the Airport Link light-rail project, but only if debt is guaranteed by the Finance Ministry. The 30-billion-baht Airport Link has been stalled due to construction delays and is the subject of a corruption investigation. The contractor, a consortium of B Grimm MBM (Hong Kong), Siemens and Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction, won the contract from the State Railway of Thailand in January 2005.

Work on the 28-kilometre elevated rail system running from central Bangkok to Suvarnabhumi Airport was to be completed by the beginning of the month, but contractors say that actual delivery will likely take another 12-15 months. Funding was provided through a 26-billion-baht syndicated loan through six Thai banks and two foreign banks. The structure was set up as a factoring deal. The banks would deliver funds to the contractors throughout the construction period upon receiving acceptance credits certified by the SRT for work completed. Interest rates on the deal were set at prime lending rates plus two percentage points, or 8.875% based on current market rates.

Bankers say they remain uncertain whether the SRT will approve contractors' requests to extend the construction period or whether it would impose fines on the builders as permitted under the original contract. Based on the original contract, the banks in the financing syndicate would pay out 100% to the contractors after work was completed within the 900-day timeframe ending on Aug 7. The banks would then collect funds for the loan from the SRT within 990 days, or by Nov 5 this year. But only around 10 billion baht in loans have been disbursed to the contractors to date as work remains well behind schedule.

One banker involved in the project said that the SRT would still have to repay funds paid out to date before discussions could begin on extending the terms of the syndicated loan to cover the additional time required to complete the project. The participating banks are willing to extend the loan terms, but only under similar conditions as offered under the original contract, namely that all debt owed by the SRT is guaranteed by the Finance Ministry. "The banks aren't against lending further for the project. But we understand that the Finance Ministry is also considering alternatives, including possible bond issues, to raise funds to finish the Airport Link programme," one banker said.

RAILWAYS AIRPORT LINK Decision due on construction contract extension this week AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK 21/08/07

The State Railway is expected to decide this week how long the construction deadline of the Suvarnabhumi airport railway project should be extended. SRT deputy governor Nakhon Chantarasorn said the committee responsible for the project was examining conditions of the deadline extension for the consortium led by Sino-Thai Engineering & Construction Plc (Stecon).

An SRT source said it had been expected the service would start running before December next year. To achieve this, the construction deadline should be extended from Nov 5 this year by 356 days and the contractor must work around the clock. The SRT wanted the contractor to bear any additional cost and would retain the right to terminate the contract if it was breached during the extension. The SRT expected to make a decision this week, the source said. One condition under consideration is a May cabinet resolution that ordered state agencies to extend by 180 days the completion dates of construction projects affected by floods.

Mr Nakhon said the Airport Rail Link was eligible for the 180-day extension because its route goes through Lat Krabang district, which was flooded. The committee would decide if the 180-day extension should be added to or included in the contract extension. If it was added, the SRT would face a higher interest burden on loans for the project, Mr Nakhon said.

The source said the 180-day flood grace period could be included in the 356-day extension because floods had occurred during the period the SRT had been unable, for other reasons, to hand over the land to the contractor. The SRT and the Stecon consortium signed the Airport Rail Link contract on Jan 20, 2005. It required the railway to be completed in 990 days, which falls on Nov 5. But the SRT delayed delivery of the land to the contractor, leading to the deadline extension which is under negotiation.

The new railway, estimated to cost 26 billion baht, will offer public transport service between the inner city and Suvarnabhumi airport. An express trip will take 15 minutes and a regular commuter trip 30 minutes

Ok let's say in a worst case scenario.
Any ideas on what would happen?
What if the project bankrupts the contractor and the government has no money or is not willing to dish out any more money?

With this amount of debt and the interest there is no possible way that this rail like will ever make any profit. The original research was based on data that the rail link be completed this year with so so many passengers to use it per month.

Without the Makkasan terminal completed I only see at best a handful of people using it. The BTS is barely making a profit with 100,000 passengers per day and I just don't see if 100,000 passengers will take the rail link to the airport. Don Muang maybe, or if the rail link was connected to Pattaya and Chonburi which will then connect Bangkok to the eastern seaboard then maybe. But I just don't see any data suggesting 100,000 passengers would carry their luggage on the rail link for 200-300 baht per person while a taxi from downtown is about just under 500 baht that can easily fit 2-3 people.
The original estimate of 70 baht per person will not cover the 6.3 million baht per day interest. The project being delayed increases debt and the cost of capital by 2.3 billion baht per year. Already 26 billion baht in debt with no forseeable end in site the project can easily rise to 40 billion baht. Interest alone would be 6.9 billion baht with the project expected to be 30% over budget adding another 7.8 billion baht adding the compound total to be 3.55 billion baht per year interest increasing costs to 9.7 million baht per day on interest alone. If 100,000 people do ride the train interest alone would be 97 baht per ticket. If 50,000 people ride the train interest alone would be almost 200 baht per ticket. Realistically I forsee only 20,000 people riding the train per day so interest alone would be about 485baht per ticket. I have not calculated compound interest or the actual operating costs of the train because I just don't know because the the train isn't completed or running yet. To just break even the cost of the ticket will have to be atleast 485 (interest per passenger per day) + 182 (cost of original capital 30 year loan) + unknown (actual operating cost and expenses) we are talking about a 1,000 baht ticket here. It would be cheaper for a passenger if some cheap airline like air asia chartered flights from don muang to suvarnabhumi.

The rail link should have never been built without suggesting that it connects to Chonburi/Pattaya.

What do you guys think? Should the government bite the bullet on this one and just call it off since it might not be economically feasible anymore or just inject more cash and guarantees and get this damn project finished hoping one day it will connect to Pattaya/Chonburi and hoping to break even after 30years of service.

Usually for other countries the government has a duty to lose some money and invest for public services. Not to expect making money of every project.

Actually, the BTS is regularly reaching ~500,000 pax per day these days. As for airport link prices, my understanding was that there would be both a reasonably priced commuter train (~70 baht) and the airport express line (~200 baht).

But for comparison, the airport link for Kuala Lumpur gets ~13000 pax per day (as of 2005, can't find newer figures), split roughly 6000/7000 between Ekspres and Transit, and claims to be operationally profitable anyway (excluding loan payments, that is). Note that the ERL goes through 70 km of jungle and plantations, not Bangkok's dense suburbs, and KLIA only gets about half the passengers than Suvarnabhumi does, so the Suvarnabhumi link has a lot more potential. Whether that potential will be realized is another question...

At this point, I'm pretty sure they cannot just "call it off", they'd still have to pay the contractors, Siemens etc for work already done. The physical infrastructure is fairly well advanced, in another few months' time the remaining work will be mostly setting up and testing systems.

Extending the line to Pattaya would be brilliant, but has this even been seriously considered? The last time this topic came up there were murmurs of the well-connected Pattaya bus mafia doing everything they can to kneecap any rail service -- and given how well SRT "serves" Pattaya, they're doing a pretty good job. :mad:

I think one of the main causes of being over budget is the land appropriation.
Do any of you think if they just drilled underground things would be different?
I don't think property rights in Thailand go that deep. In Malaysia they go towards the center of the earth.

My wishes for a brighter and better Bangkok future.
1) There has to be mass transit links to the Thonburi side of Bangkok.
BTS, subway, tollway that links the Bang Yai, Nonthaburi, Taling Chan, Petchkasem road to Bangkok.
2)Link the airport rail link to Pattaya, Chonburi.
3) Close don muang and concentrate all efforts on improving Suvarnabhumi to become a better international hub. Extend the terminal, complete the rail line, just fix the damn place up.

Latest News - SRT allowed 365 Day extension for the constructio nof Airprot Link ... (Manager Daily 21 August 2007)

SRT not out of the tunnel yet!
 

$115 million dollars for a tunnel 800 meters long (walking distance). About 3.37 million baht per each step or stride taken by an average male.

Now who would believe that corruption wasn't involved.

^ perhaps it is a gold and diamond finished tunnel?:confused:

Cabinet must approve rail link payments WICHIT CHANTANUSORNSIRI Bkk Post 03/09/07

Payments for the 30-billion-baht Airport Rail Link project will only be made by the Finance Ministry under a cabinet order, according to ministry officials.
The Airport Rail Link, running from central Bangkok to Suvarnabhumi Airport, is suffering from significant delays and potential cost overruns. The original contract gave Sino-Thai Engineering 990 days to complete the project, which was to be completed last month and delivered to the State Railway of Thailand by the end of the year.

The SRT has approved giving Sino-Thai an additional 300 days to complete the project, now 70% complete, after considering the contractor's complaints about delays in transferring land and property for civil work, particularly around the Makkasan area. Under the existing contract, the Finance Ministry is responsible for issuing state bonds to finance payments to the contractor upon delivery. ''But as the contractor has not completed the project within the set timeframe, it remains uncertain whether the payments must be made. And if payment is required, how much should be paid, considering that the work is only partially complete,'' said one ministry official.

It also remains uncertain who is responsible for carrying the interest costs incurred due to the 300-day delay. Under the contract, the 30-billion-baht payment owed Sino-Thai represents construction costs as well as interest expenses from bank loans taken by the company for the project. The Finance Ministry has asked the SRT to open negotiations with Sino-Thai and Kasikornbank, the project's lead banker, regarding the extra interest expenses.

The new railway will offer public transport service between the inner city and Suvarnabhumi airport. An express trip will take 15 minutes and a regular commuter trip 30 minutes.

Another Hopewell? :eek: No, construction is too advanced and really it is only some refinancing that is required. Also, it would be too embarrassing :o for the govt. after all the problems with the new airport to then have a half finished rapid transit link.

State railway to decide Airport Rail Link project's future tomorrow
Problems must be settled before Nov 5 By Amornrat Mahitthirook Bkk Post 09/09/07

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) will decide tomorrow how it should continue with the trouble-plagued Airport Rail Link (ARL) project. SRT deputy governor Nakhon Chantarasorn said the project's contractor, the Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction company, has been given 370 more days to finish the project from its original deadline of Nov 5. He explained that the SRT was also mulling over the project's funding. It has now been left with two options, to either seek an extension to the loan payback period or find other ways to furnish its debt.

The new railway line, estimated to cost 26 billion baht, will service the public between the inner city and Suvarnabhumi airport. The project, launched by the deposed Thaksin Shinawatra government, is being investigated by the Assets Scrutiny Committee for possible graft. Mr Nakhon, who chairs the SRT panel studying Sino-Thai's contract extension, said the panel will meet the SRT board tomorrow to conclude what should be done to sustain the project.

Details of the meeting will be forwarded to Deputy Transport Minister Sansern Wongcha-um. After that, the proposed contract extension is expected to be taken up for consideration by the cabinet no later than Oct 9. Mr Sansern said he was pressing the SRT to come up with a clear plan of action so the project could proceed.

The deputy minister said, however, that it was a separate issue to argue against the legality of the contract amid allegations of irregularity in the signing of the deal. The state legal team will work to have a clause added to the revised contract, enabling the government to take appropriate action if it is established through the graft probe that the project was not corruption-free. ''But the priority now is to keep the project going,'' he said, adding the essential details, including the financing, must be finalised before the expiry of the contract on Nov 6.

Arak Ratboriharn, SRT chief finance officer, said the SRT should negotiate with the creditors to delay the loan repayment until after the completion of the project. The negotiation, he said, should be carried out quickly to relieve pressure from the immediate repayment obligation. Another possible approach was through the refinancing of debt by finding a lump sum to pay off 19 billion baht in construction costs, plus the interest owed to creditors.

However, the remaining 30% investment will require re-negotiations on the terms of repayment to the current creditors or a new loan could be secured to cover the amount, if that was seen as a better option. This approach, Mr Arak said, would lower the interest burden. ''In the end, the government will be left with the final say on the proposal,'' he said.

Airport Express abotu to be Delivered.

(REF: Dailynews - 7 Sept 2007)

Now, the 4 set of rolling stock in 4 car formation (the Airport Express Sets in red) are about to be shipped from Germany to Thailand. The rollign stock will reach Laem Chabang in Mid October 2007.

This has compelled both SRT and STECON to speed up the work on the Depot whcih is now 34% done. Electrification at the Depot will have to be done as soon as possible to allow the shunting ...

The construction is 70% done .... STECON had laid the track (steel rails) 7 km out of 16 km. The first station will be done in Feb 2008.



// ----------------------------------------------------------------------

With this kind to project ... Nobody would DARE to cancle Airport Link ....