Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will officially open the Yellow Line electric train system — now offering free rides to passengers on most parts of the route — on June 19, according to a source in the Transport Ministry.
The caretaker premier is expected to head a ceremony at 10am on June 19 when the entire route — comprising 23 stations from Lat Phrao to Samrong — will be up and running.
The Yellow Line is the country’s first straddle-beam monorail. It held its soft opening last Saturday and has been providing free rides that stop at 13 of its stations, from Hua Mak to Samrong. Construction of facilities at the Lat Phrao station is still incomplete.
The line covers 30.4 kilometres, with a travel time of around 30 minutes from end to end.
Executives of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) plan to meet on Friday with Eastern Bangkok Monorail (EBM), an affiliate of the Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc (BTSC) and the concessionaire of the Yellow Line, to evaluate the trial runs.
The free rides will run until July 3. From June 12, operating hours will be extended from between 9am and 8pm currently to between 6am and 9pm daily.
With a maximum speed of 80km/h, the monorail train has four carriages that can carry up to 568 passengers each, or about 17,000 per hour, according to BTSC.
Fares will range from 15 to 45 baht, subject to changes based on the consumer price index for the previous three months.
The Yellow Line is interlinked with the Green Line at Samrong station, the Airport Rail Link at Hua Mak station and the Blue Line at Lat Phrao station. It will soon be connected as well to the Orange Line via Yaek Lam Sali station.