Published on January 20, 2005

The operator of the subway is considering giving away free tickets for life to all 700 passengers who were aboard the train that an empty runaway carriage ploughed into on Monday.

A source at Bangkok Metro Co Ltd said that the gesture might not be enough to restore confidence, but it is better than doing nothing. The company wants to compensate its customers for the mistakes that led to more than 200 people being injured.

“Like airline passengers who are entitled to lifetime free airfares in case of accidents, we are offering them that kind of compensation,” said the source, who asked not to be named.

However, he added, this scheme will be officially announced only when the company can ensure that the tickets only go to the passengers who were actually on the train. The problem will be identifying who they are, especially if they were uninjured.

The government plans to increase its supervision of employees of the subway, including administering psychological aptitude tests, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday.

“Underground train drivers and operators must be physically and psychologically fit for the strict discipline necessary for following the operating manual to ensure complete safety,” he said.

Monday’s train crash happened because of human error even though the country has a very advanced train-traffic control system, Thaksin said.

He said it would be necessary to screen underground train personnel using the same standard applied to airline pilots.

“The tragic accident would not have happened if personnel had followed the operations manual,” he said.

An official close to the investigation said personnel should not take all the blame. The preliminary investigation has shown that the empty train rolling into the depot was controlled by the subway’s computerised operational system, not a driver as previously reported.

If the system functioned perfectly, the train would have reached the depot without a hitch and would not have needed a second train to pull it in, the source said.

The preliminary investigation also indicated that train drivers and traffic conductors had not followed the manual, said Prapat Chongsanguan, governor of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority.

The manual did not prescribe releasing the brake or using a train to haul another train to the maintenance depot, he said.

Monday’s accident occurred after the drivers of two empty trains had failed to connect their trains.

Before their attempt to connect, the traffic control room ordered the driver of the train waiting to enter the depot to release the brake, which caused it to roll backwards all the way to a station where a train filled with 700 passengers was waiting. Investigators still have not concluded whether all the personnel involved correctly understood the brake-release instructions. There are three different methods to release the brake.

“I fear that some train drivers might rely on their work habits rather than consulting the operations manual,” he said.

The Huay Kwang police department, which is in charge of the investigation into the accident, said they had interviewed about 60 per cent of the train officials involved.

“Charges will soon be filed against six officials,” said Major Wongkorn Muenkeow, a police investigator.

The six are chief traffic conductor Kulchart Lao-asoke, control room official Rangsan Sawasdimongkol, traffic conductor Jaras Dolboonanek and three train drivers, Thawatchai Kalaya, Wibul Tichantanapalin and Thanaphol Nitchotiyanont.

A source close to the police said investigators would conduct an independent study of the “black box” data recorders retrieved from the three trains and the control room in order to re-enact the events that led to the accident.

The BMCL has submitted the transcript of communications between the control room and the three trains. The BMCL’s record still needs to be verified, the source said.

After checking the black boxes, investigators will be in a position to apportion blame among conductors and officials in the control centre, he said.

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