Single ticket for electric rail in June: govt

A common ticketing system for all electric train systems in Bangkok will be rolled out in June, permanent secretary for transport Chaiwat Tongkamkoon, said on Thursday.

Mr Chaiwat said a committee developing a common ticketing system has confirmed it will be up and running by June, despite a number of unresolved issues between the operators.

Once in place, holders of Rabbit cards for the Skytrain, Plus cards for the MRT's Blue and Purple Line and the Airport Rail Link (ARL) cards will be able to travel on all four routes without having to buy separate tickets for each journey.

According to Mr Chaiwat, there are currently 14.2 million registered cards for all electric train networks within Bangkok.

The operators of each system still have to sort out the terms of business integration -- especially Bangkok Expressways and Metro Plc (BEM), which operates the MRT, and BTSC, which operates the skytrain.

Among the issues which still need to be ironed out are the syncing of fare discounts for certain groups of passengers and the minimum value of stored credits in the cards.

Mr Chaiwat also said the ARL's operator has yet to make its ticketing system compatible with the MRT's despite repeated requests for it to speed up the work.

"The operator might need to find a new contractor to improve the ARL's ticketing system," he said.

A source said yesterday the ARL is considering whether to impose a fine against the firm contracted to improve the ticketing system.

According to the source, the 104-million-baht contract was signed in November 2018 and the contract ended in April last year.

In the future, the common ticketing system could be expanded to cover Bangkok Mass Transit Authority's (BMTA) bus, public boats and new electric rail services for the sake of passenger convenience.