Interlink Communication Public Company Limited has contracted Siemens to produce the fully automated Airval people mover for Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand. Airval will connect the airport’s current terminal with a brand new satellite terminal. The line shall be roughly one kilometer long and can consist of 4 parallel tracks and two stations. Siemens will supply a complete of six two-car trains and a communications-based train control (CBTC) system for fully automated operation. The trains shall be manufactured on the Siemens factory in Vienna, Austria. The project shall be put into operation in 2020.
The Airval system is a central, automated people mover guided on rails, characterised by short headways, fast acceleration and short braking phases. Thanks to rubber tires, Airval trains can easily climb steeper grades and are much quieter when cornering than other rail systems. Innovative energy storage and recovery systems ensure high system efficiency.
Airval trains being built for Bangkok will carry as much as 3,590 passengers per hour in either direction during peak periods. The operation shall be implemented 24 hours a day, 7 days per week to fulfill changing demand. Large doors and spacious passageways make it easy to get out and in and supply loads of space for luggage.
“Over the past decades, Siemens has played a major role in the development of Bangkok’s urban transport system – from turnkey rail systems to Skytrain to the airport rail link. With our Airval system, we will continue this success story seamlessly,” said Sabrina Soussan, CEO of Siemens Mobility.
Val systems from Siemens are already in operation at Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports in Paris and at O’Hare airport in Chicago. Val’s fully automated systems also operate as metro lines in French cities corresponding to Lille, Rennes and Toulouse, within the South Korean city of Uijeongbu and in Turin, Italy. The availability level of Val’s operating lines is over 99.8%.
source: Siemens
