The airport link railway is ready to operate and the government will launch it as quickly as possible, Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu said on Thursday.
The deputy prime minister, who is in charged of economic affairs, was speaking after a test run of the 28.6 kilometre route linking Makkasan train station in Bangkok and Suvarnabhumi airport in Samut Prakan province.
About 1,100 representatives of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) were present.
"From the test run, I can say that the airport link system is ready to operate," Mr Korbsak said.
However, more staff needed to be trained before operations could begin.
"The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has not been able to set up a subsidiary for this, and it could take at least nine months, or until mid-2010, for all the staff to be trained," he said.
Mr Korbsak said he will invite SRT executives and all related agencies to a meeting to speed up the process.
ATTA member Thongyoo Supphawitthayakorn said the government should get the airport rail link operating as soon as possible as it would boost the tourism sector.
"This mass transit rail system will benefit tourism related business operators, as they can reduce their client service costs," Mr Thongyoo said.
He confirmed the number of foreign visitors had dropped about 30 per cent due, and blamed the ongoing political conflict and the anti-government demonstrations.
"It is not possible that the number of foreign arrivals in 2009 will reach the 14 million target of the Tourism Authority of Thailand . The figure this year is more likely to be 11 million at the most," he said.
The political turmoil had driven foreign tourists to visit neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia and China.
The Rail Link will make another test run on Oct 1, in preparation for the planned official commencement of operations on Dec 5.
From BangkokPost.com
