Bangkok''s new subway system aims to end congestion woes

Описание: (23 Apr 2004)

April 13, 2004
1. Wide shot street in Bangkok, pans to entrance of subway station
2. Invited passengers on escalator down into subway station
3. Train on platform
4. Close up driver''s hand pushing button to open train doors
5. Passengers climbing onto train
6. Passengers on train as it moves off
7. Passengers in carriage
8. Mid shot driver in cab
9. Close up speedometer
10. Tunnel and track, seen from driver''s cab
11. Passengers on train
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Manassuang Yindiphol, Passenger:
"The subway is very good, is very nice and cosy, and it''s safe to travel with it, and I believe it''s going to help the traffic in Thailand."
13. SOUNDBITE (Thai) Somchai Klinthong, Passenger:
"It''s very good. It''s very convenient for the people. It''ll make travel more convenient because the traffic outside is so bad."

FILE - Date Unknown
14. Traffic moving along street
15. Exhaust pipe
16. Gridlocked traffic
17. Man in car on mobile phone
18. Traffic

FILE - May 1999
19. Long shot subway workers underground
20. Subway workers
21. Subway workers sitting on track
22. Close up construction worker pointing
23. Worker moving along track

April 13 2004
24. Wide shot Sombat Kijjaluksana, Managing Director of Bangkok Metro Company Ltd
25. Monitor on platform
26. SOUNDBITE (English) Sombat Kijjaluksana, Managing Director of Bangkok Metro Company Ltd:
"Some people have doubts whether we can make the tunnel in the very soft clay, the soft clay we have in Bangkok. And as it is surrounded by many high-rise buildings, whether the soil will collapse and destroy everything or not."
27. Various passengers on train
28. Wide shot platform as people leave train

STORYLINE:

Bangkok has held a series public trial runs for its new subway system, suggesting that the days of the city''s infamous traffic jams may be numbered.

When it finally opens, the new train service will carry passengers across twenty kilometres of the Thai capital, from the northern suburbs to Chinatown.

Last week a number Bangkok residents were allowed onto the trains for the first time, riding for free in a series of trial runs.

The new locomotives were built in Austria by the Siemens company and each one can transport nearly 1300 passengers.

The trains will transport city residents up and down the track from early morning to midnight, at speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour, for less than a dollar.

Passengers taking part in the trial noted the new trains'' cleanliness as well as their modern design.

But most were looking forward to an alternative to the daily traffic gridlock, present in the city, for much of the time.

The project took almost seven years to complete and cost 2.75 (b) billion US dollars.

More lines are planned over the next few years and three of the underground stations will link up with the overground Skytrain system, which has been in operation since 1999.

The subway system is currently closed to the general public while the final preparations are made for the official opening on August 12th.

While the new transport system will certainly mean faster journey''s for passengers riding on board, whether it will reduce the number of cars on the road remains to be seen.

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