Airport Link opens

[ricardofel]

You have to take a taxi to Makkasan to ride the express train to the airport....incompetence from the start. Should have been a connection from the BTS or MRT. The ride was fast and comfortable...BUT I had no luggage and if the train is crowded you will have a big problem. Taxi driver had no idea where to drop me off and if you arrive at Makkasan from the airport there were NO taxis to take you home. All in all a rather incompetent creation, but typical.

[Nelly]

I took the city line last Friday and found it to be cheap (30-odd baht skytrain + 15 baht city line) and relatively timely (30 minutes from Saphan Taksin to Phya Thai and another 40 minutes to the airport). Given that I left in the middle of an almighty storm, a taxi could have taken over an hour at 350 baht+, and so it was the weather that swayed my decision.

As said already, the city line trains are not built for luggage and I'd be interested to hear if the Express trains do indeed have different set up with more luggage space. I also had only one light case, so did not experience the trolley issue, but that is certainly of concern for future trips when I could well be carrying a larger full case + additional laptop bag.

The only pain for me was on arrival at the airport, where there are only a few elevators connecting the floors. So on the lower floor where the train arrives the elevators quickly filled up, leaving a large group jostling in front of the doors to be sure of a place on the next trip. So I took the escalators... great idea. These long escalators slowly take you to the next floor, where you then have to double-back on yourself to the start of the next escalator and so on up 4 floors. Of course, this is Thailand and people stand all over the escalators (keep to the right!!!) or have a trolley, making it impossible to speed this up. This tactic of slowing your exit down works ok in Paragon, but is frustrating in an airport - so if you are in a hurry, also factor an additional 5 minutes to get from the lower floor to departures!!

On arriving back in Bangkok, now with wife and more baggage, the thought of going on the train, then BTS and then taxi v just getting in a taxi was too much. Sad, but I don't think I'll ever use it on arrival.

[davbon]

Me too i had the to take the new Airport Express from Suvarnabhumi to my home near Sukhumvit.
I think the service maybe can be better ..... in future.

[beowulf]

I used the airport link trains on my trip to Bangkok in September 2010. I used the express non-stop service to Makkasan at about 6 pm on my arrival and the City Line stopping service from Phayathai Station when I departed at 6 am.
The fares paid were 100 Baht & 15 Baht respectively. Both fares rise in January 2011.
The train services were excellent and there's plenty of room for baggage. The non-stop service was practically empty, with most people taking the much cheaper City Line service.
There were no Taxi's on the forecourt on arrival at Makkasan so I had to walk about 100 metres to the main road to flag down a Meter Taxi. The first City Line service from Phayathai station is at 6 am which was okay for me but earlier trains would be better.
Those catching a taxi to the City Line at Phayathai station should enter from the escalator on the slip road at the Skytrain station and not go up the steps to the Skytrain station itself.

[beowulf]

If you are on a budget or there's more than one person in your party, use the city line stopping service which is much cheaper. Otherwise book a metered taxi ("Taxi Meter") at the desk kirbside outside on the lower floor at the airport. Make sure they switch the meter on though.
Taxi fare to Bangkok city should be 300-450 Baht (depending on area) plus 50 Baht surcharge for airport pickup. Tolls are also payable if the taxi uses the expressway (25-70 Baht).
Don't use taxi the touts inside the airport building because they are very expensive!

[bobbyd]

It was easy reaching the train in the basement of the airport.

Took a 2pm train to the Makhasan station (main station) in town, and reached the downtown station in a mere 12 minutes! Very quick! Much faster than a taxi could do.

Looking out the train window on to the expressway below, the train was moving much faster than the cars and this was on a Sunday afternoon when traffic is relatively light, which would suggest that the train is moving at at least 120 kph.

Siemens carriages were roomy and comfortable and the ride was smooth. There are areas for storing luggage, although the storage areas didn’t seem that big. However, there is room around the seating areas for putting luggage.

The big windows allow for good viewing of the countryside, but the scenery does go by quickly at that speed.

There were only 3 other passengers on the train, which has 3 carriages.

At Makhasan station, we walked down into the basement and grabbed a taxi. Unfortunately, the station exit for taxis are not great for going in all directions, as the roads around the station don’t allow for traveling / turning in all directions. This is a drawback. The roads in the area are central arteries which are typically heavily congested.

My taxi ride home was 60 baht. Train ticket was 100 baht. In all, cheaper than a taxi from the airport into town, which is a minimum 250 baht ride.

I would rate the train service as very good, although getting to and from the main station in town could be difficult. Makes me wonder how difficult or easy it would be getting into Makhasan station and getting to the train?

Would definitely recommend using the Link during heavy rain and traffic days to catch a flight, when taxis around town seem to disappear and can't always be counted on to get one to the airport on time.

[sammie]

I found a website with a route planner to plan the trip to and from Suvarnabhumi, including Airport Link and all other modes of transportation . It is recommendable for anyone seeking for alternatives for taxi travel. http://www.transitbangkok.com/to_Bangkok_airport.html

[modsquad]

by sammie on Tue Nov 23, 2010 3:25 am

I found a website with a route planner to plan the trip to and from Suvarnabhumi, including Airport Link and all other modes of transportation . It is recommendable for anyone seeking for alternatives for taxi travel. http://www.transitbangkok.com/to_Bangkok_airport.html

The website link makes the following statements:

Airport Link
Express Line
The express line runs from 06.00am to 01.00am every day.

City Line
The City Line runs 24 hours a day

All the articles I've read state: Trains run from 6am to midnight

Wonder how reliabie the rest of the information at the site is?

[salivapong]

In my opinion , The airport rail link is fastest. If you want to go to the airport you must used the airport rail link but the airport rail link should have express and single travel because If only express it's very expensive on the other hand the single travel is late to arrive the airport.

[drake]

AS of today.
Both Express and City Line runs 0600 till midnight only.
You can catch the MRT (subway) at Makkasan and SkyTrain at PhayaThai.
There is a walkway connecting SkyTrain (BTS) to City Line platform at Phaya Thai.
There is no connecting walkway of any sort from Makkasan to MRT (subway), you have to get out to the road and walk across the tracks to get to the MRT station.
There's a taxi stand on the third floor of the Makkasan station (follow the paper sign) but I've seen only one Taxi there the few times I've gone through that station.
With the ongoing 15 baht promo the City Line can be completely packed at times.

Yes, it's the fastest/cheapest way to get across town right now.
I can take BTS from OnNut to PhayaThai then the City Line back down to HuaMak in under 40 minutes during rush hour for all of 55 bht.

http://airportraillink.railway.co.th/en/index.html
Time Table.
http://airportraillink.railway.co.th/th ... o_pth.html
http://airportraillink.railway.co.th/th ... _line.html