The operators of the Yellow and Pink lines are currently testing redesigned guide wheel and conductor rail systems to prevent future malfunctions.
This initiative follows recent incidents where a guide wheel detached from a moving Yellow Line train, damaging vehicles below. Similarly, a long section of the Pink Line’s conductor rail also fell, causing comparable damage.
In response to these incidents, Eastern Bangkok Monorail Co. (EBM) and Northern Bangkok Monorail Co. (NBM), the concessionaires for the Yellow and Pink Lines respectively, are collaborating with Alstom, the French manufacturer of the monorail guide wheel and conductor rail systems.
Surapong Laoha-Unya, executive director of BTS Group Holdings Plc and director of both EBM and NBM, stated to the media on Saturday that they aim to prevent such faults from recurring.
Alstom has conducted in-house tests on the redesigned guide wheel system and has now installed it on one Yellow Line train and one Pink Line train for further testing, a process expected to take approximately three months. After this period, EBM and NBM plan to begin replacing all guide wheels on their 42 Pink Line trains and 30 Yellow Line trains early next year.
Currently, the Yellow Line trains are utilizing the unchanged guide wheel design following a safety inspection, with an increase in inspection frequency after the accidents.
Alstom has also redesigned the conductor rail system for both monorail lines and is in the process of evaluating the benefits and drawbacks of the new design. EBM and NBM have requested that each conductor rail section, currently around 5–6 kilometers long, be divided into shorter segments to minimize potential damage in case any section experiences problems in the future.