Panic passengers walk on Airport Rail Link railway
A power breakdown prompted an Airport Rail Link train to get stuck in the rail Monday morning before panic passengers exit through the emergency exits after they unsuccessfully tried to break the glass windows and took to the rail to walk to the nearby Ra
The power breakdown was reported at the Ramkhamhaeng station at 7:50 am. By 8:50 am, a passenger posted message on Facebook that people started fainting because the train was crowded and without air condition, heat built up.
She posted that panic passengers tried to break the glass windows but the windows did not break. They later used emergency exits and started walking on the rail to the Ramkhamhaeng station.
With the people walking on the rail, the authorities cut power on the rail, and thus causing other trains to be delayed.
The Airport Rail Link reported that by 9 am, a rescue train was dispatched to evacuate passengers from the breakdown train. The rescue train had to wait for some 20 passengers who got down to the rail to reach the Ramkhamhaeng station first before the power could be resupplied to the system.
By 10 am, the rescue train took the evacuated passengers to the Hua Mak station.
Airport Rail Link acting director Gen Daran Yutthawongsuk said the a Suvarnabhumi-Phayathai train's power system malfunctioned before it reached the Ramkhamhaeng station.
He said passengers became panic after the got stuck in the train for a long time so they exit the train using the emergency exit. With some passengers on the rail, the emergency operation was delayed, Daran said.
The Airport Rail Link announced that the full services were restored at 11:11 am.