The Transport Ministry has stated that the fee structure for the recently finished elevated MRT Yellow Line train service will be discussed at the Cabinet meeting today (June 20) and will be released prior to the commercial opening date on July 3.
“We don’t anticipate any issues getting the (caretaker) cabinet to approve the fare rate. According to schedule, the line ought to be able to begin accepting commercial traffic next month, according to Athirat Rattanaset, deputy minister of transport.
The proposed fare, according to Yellow Line operator Eastern Bangkok Monorail (EBM), will start at 15 baht and go up to 45 baht. After the commercial opening, the business anticipates an average of 200,000 passengers per day.
Since June 3, riders can take a free test ride on the MRT Yellow Line monorail. The initial 13 stations from Samrong to Hua Mak stations were covered by the trial run; nine additional stations from Sri Kritha to Phawana stations were added last week.
The 30.4-kilometer Lat Phrao-Samrong Yellow Line route has 23 stations. Near the MRT Lat Phrao station, the route begins at the Ratchada-Lat Phrao intersection and proceeds down Lat Phrao Road until crossing Bang Kapi and turning right onto Srinakarin Road. The train makes a right turn into Theparak Road and then passes the Soi Onnuch and Theparak crossroads at the Sri Nuch and Sri Thep stations before coming to an end at the Samrong Station at the Sukhumvit intersection.
President of Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc (BTSC), the organization that owns EBM, Surapong Laoha-Unya, previously stated that the corporation expected to make 1 billion baht this year from operating the Yellow Line.
In addition, EBM intends to increase the number of carriages on each train from the existing four, which can accommodate 1,000 passengers, since it anticipates more commuting use of the monorail following its commercial debut.
The MRT Pink Line’s Khae Rai-Minburi segment is also being built by BTSC; after more than two years of delay because of the Covid-19 outbreak, the line is expected to begin testing in November of this year, he said.
