Train ridership surged 60% across Greater Bangkok on Sunday, the second day of the government’s week-long offer of free public transport to help combat air pollution, the Department of Rail Transport (DRT) said on Tuesday.
DRT director-general Pichet Kunathammarak said ridership on the city's electric train network shot up 60.90% on Sunday, to 1,549,622 trips, over the three previous Sundays in January.
The figure was up on the 45.29% growth in Saturday’s ridership, the first day of the free public transport campaign.
From Jan 25 to 31, people can travel for free on the city's public buses and electric trains under goverment measures to address the high level of particulate matter 2.5 micrometres and smaller (PM2.5) polluting Bangkok's air.
Mr Pichet gave the ridership breakdown by rail line for Sunday as follows:
1. Airport Rail Link - Ridership rose 34.36% to 69,199 trips compared with the average traffic on the three previous Sundays.
2. Red Line - Ridership skyrocketed 72.44% to 43,083 trips.
3. Blue Line - Ridership grew 48.38% to 417,740 trips.
4. Purple Line - Ridership expanded 46.76% to 55,164 trips.
5. BTS Green Line (Sukhumvit and Silom routes) - Ridership soared 62.46% to 805,591 trips.
6. Gold Line - Ridership rose 153.07% to 16,470 trips.
7. Yellow Line - Ridership swelled 114.47% to 64,662 trips.
8. Pink Line - Ridership ballooned 122.36% to 77,713 trips.
Free ticket handout
Mr Pichet said the DRT had asked the operators of the MRT and BTS to monitor ridership during rush hours and increase the frequency of train trips accordingly.
During morning rush hours on Monday, local media reported that staff at busy BTS Skytrain stations such as Siam, Mo Chit and Asoke handed out free train tickets to commuters when the machines and ticket booths alone could not accommodate high demand in this period.
Most of the commuters wore face masks to protect them from the ultrafine dust while traffic under the Mo Chit and Siam stations was not congested as previously seen on Monday mornings.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit said the government would assess all relevant figures and data after the campaign before deciding whether it would extend the free public transport scheme.
Some critics said the government is barking up the wrong tree and doubt the campaign costing 140 million baht could actually reduce the numbers of cars on the capital’s roads. However, Mr Suriya insisted that the scheme could reduce cars on the roads.
“Anyone who wants to know for sure can check with the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning. They have CCTV camaras across Bangkok. They can check if there are fewer cars or not,” the transport minister said.
