BANGKOK – Thousands of tickets for elevated train rides will be offered for free to commuters during a test run on a new 23-kilometer-long Purple Line between Bang Yai and Tao Poon areas on Bangkok’s northwestern outskirts in June and July.
The commuters can collect the free tickets at three stations, namely Klong Bang Pai, Yaek Nonthaburi and Tao Poon, the Mass Rapid Transport Authority of Thailand (MRTA) announced on Tuesday.
Each week, 5,000 free tickets will be distributed on three specific days of the following week. The tickets will be distributed on Sundays from 7.00 a.m. until 9.00 a.m. on June 5, 12 and 19, 2016. On June 26, the tickets can be collected from 4.00 p.m. until 6.00 p.m. The last round of free tickets will be issued on July 10.
Each ticket can be used for one or two passengers traveling together on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of the following week. The MRTA is expected to accommodate 15,000 to 30,000 passengers during the test run each week.
The MRTA will inform passengers weekly of the specific stations to get on and off the train as the stations may change on weekly basis.
The first day of pay service for the Purple Line route between 16 stations is set for Aug 6 with fares ranging from 16 to 40 baht a trip, depending on the distance.
