Yellow Line sees over 65,000 passengers on first day of full service
The number of passengers on Bangkok’s new MRT Yellow Line shot up to 65,000 people on Monday – the first day that all 23 stations were open.
Trains on the elevated Yellow Line have been offering free rides since June 3 during the trial period. The trial covered 13 stations up until Monday, when the remaining 10 also opened for service. Passengers will have to pay for tickets from July 3.
Pichet Kunathammarak, director-general of the Department of Rail Transport, said just over 670,000 people had ridden the Yellow Line up until Monday, with daily ridership now expected to grow quickly.
The only glitches to the service so far were bottlenecks at a lift in the Lat Phrao station interchange, where the Yellow and Blue lines converge, he said.
Passengers reluctant to use the skywalk were choosing to take the lift instead, leading to long queues in the area, he said. Officials will visit the station to address the issue in person on Wednesday.
The Yellow Line fare has been set at 15-45 baht, to be confirmed by the Cabinet.
Yellow Line operator Eastern Bangkok Monorail (EBM) expects an average of 200,000 passengers per day, bringing in around one billion baht in revenue.
The operator reckons the average fare will be around 30 baht.
The Yellow Line spans 30.4 kilometres from northern Bangkok to Samut Prakan in the southern suburbs. The route starts at the Ratchada-Lat Phrao intersection near MRT Lat Phrao station and terminates at Samrong Station at the Sukhumvit intersection.
