rough translation of this facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/491766874595130/posts/1305394736565669/ for sharing in Comic Fiesta Community Discord serverʹs #public-transport channel -- rough translation is using both Google Translate and Bing Translate, in addition to thai2english.com corpus as vocab because some of the words given by both …

thailand-apm-suvarnabhumi

Get to know the #APM train connecting the airport terminal #Suvarnabhumi
Airval, the latest electric wheeled vehicle from Siemens.

Today, bring your friends and let's get to know the latest little train that will come into service in our country, the APM electric train that will serve the connection between the main terminal (MTB) and the secondary building 1 (SAT 1) that is under construction, delaying the opening until the year 2020 (year 65 refers to Thai year 2565 which is equivalent to our year 2020).

In the project, it will be using rubber-wheeled electric train for the APM, model Airval by Siemens.

So I introduce you to each of these.

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First of all, we must know that this train format is known under 2 names:
- APM (Automated People Mover)
- AGT (Automated Guideway Transit)

They're both the same. What differentiate them is the usage: APM is what we call when it's used within airports and AGT is what we call when it's used as a general public transport system.

Note that the specific system design details might differ slightly.

The project style is similar to the Gold Line train (in Bangkok), but there will be variation where there is guide rail system and uses different power supply system.

For this project, we shall use the term APM mainly.

Old post on APM/AGT
https://www.facebook.com/491766874595130/posts/9263334314471715/?d=n

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Why use a rubber-wheeled train (APM)??? How is it different from a steel-wheeled train???

First of all, we need to know that the trains used inside the airport have different restrictions than conventional metropolitan transport, such as frequency, passenger volume, narrow curve distance, steep slope, easy going up and down, and high reliability. Also need to support 24/7 service with low maintenance.

If we compare the Spec in service between APM and Heavy Rail in various topics, it can be compared as follow:

APM / Heavy Rail
- Top speed 80km/h / 80km/h
- Maximum acceleration 1.3m²/s / 1.1m²/s
- Maximum slope rate 10% / 3.5%
- Minimum curve radius 30m / 87.5m
- Automatic control standard GOA4 / GOA2
- Electrical standard used for the coaches 750VDC / 750VDC
- Capacity of passengers 1,000-35,000 people/direction/day / 20,000-60,000 people/direction/day

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Details about Airval / Cityval from Siemens

Airval and Citycal were born from Véhicule Automatique Léger (lit. 'automatic light vehicle') or known as VAL technology.

Researched and developed by University of Lille, France. It is now a Siemens technology.

VAL is used mainly for small lines and mainly in airport, such as CDG Airport in France, O’Hair Airport in America, the Lille Metro, and the Rennes Metro.

Currently, there are 2 main versions of APM from Siemens:
- Cityval for use in the city
- Airval for use in the airport

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The layout of the rails and electric train tracks

It is divided into 3 main parts:
- Guiding Track in the middle of the runway
- The electrical supply rail is located on the outer side of the Guiding Track, using 750 VDC
- Rubber track as the load point to support the weight of the train

The details can be seen from the picture below and from these videos:
https://youtu.be/bZbpWG4AwGk
https://youtu.be/bvfHaimDdpA

If it was opened on 2020 (year 65) as planned, anyone traveling abroad will be able to use it as planned.

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[the rest of the post is ommitted as it's just talking about their previous posts and linking to them]