Bangkok Subway

[SeaVisionBurma]

I heard while in Bangkok last week that some members of the public had been given the opportunity to try the new subway ahead of its formal opening.

Anyone here had the chance to take a look?

Any comments?

I suppose my only comment would be that there's no seamless travel between the subway and the BTS systems, you apparently need to purchase separate tickets for both. This could be a pain, compared to cities like Hong Kong where one Octopus card gets you seamless travel between trams, buses, ferries, MRT etc.

[Rinrada]

Looks like this is the latest

(thanks to http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/Subway/

Public allowed for new free ride on subway

BANGKOK, May 20 (TNA) - The general public who hold unused tickets for free underground train ride issued in April can use the tickets again in June.

Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) Govenror Prapat Jongsa-nguan said Wednesday that those eligible to travel on the underground train between 13-18 April could enjoy the trial runs again on 12,16, and 27 June.

He added that a new lot of free-ride tickets would be delivered to recipients on 21 May.

The tickets would also be valid for the free rides on the same three days in June, he disclosed. (TNA)--E009

ALSO

Irregularities in the subway causing full service only after July 1 -

The plan to speed up the full service may miss the July 1, 2004 deadline due to irregularities inside the basic structure which need to be fixed immediately before official transfer to BMCL.

Even the power lines have confusing colors due to different systems by different contractors.

The delays by MRTA will force MRTA to pay 7 million baht a day compensation to BMCL.

However, MRTA governor said those irregularities exist but are not that serious so long that MRTA can fix the problems on time. MRTA is fixing the power line problems by replacing the power lines which use specifications for internal parts of buildings with the better ones which have specifications for the external parts of buildings.

The basic structure is almost done--only some decoration and maintenance (cleansing).

The ventilator chimneys have the gates fixed by replacing fireproof doors with steel doors so as to be able to resist the pressure from ventilators. The fire alarms installed by Siemens have also been repaired since they are still in 2-year warranty period.

Furthermore, the rolling stock problems with stopping in the wrong place (causing the screen doors not to open) have been solved.

The morning and evening rush hours will have 18 sets of rolling stock in service while the afternoons will have only 14 rolling stock.

The security service providers from England will come to MRTA in June and introduce their service deal.

However, ITD (one of the contractors who installed the power line) said they have submitted the construction results to MRTA long ago since they found no problems in the installation at all and they thought they had met all the specifications.

[craig]

Last Saturday afternoon my Thai friend and I arrived by train and were pleased to see the entrance to the subway was right outside the train station. "Good Job," I thought, "they got it right as I don't need to walk blocks to find the station." The descent into the subway showed pleasant artwork and all but the number of Thais was a bit disconcerting. The area where tickets are purchased and the entrance into the subway proper was teeming with bodies. Rather than jump into the mass of humanity which was crowding against each other we opted to walk out and catch a meter taxi to Ekamai station. Maybe when the newness of the subway wears off and the price rises it will be possible to use it.

[Tony0703]

Anthing that alleviates Bangkoks traffic and pollution problem is a major plus. I haven't yet tried it but will be very soon. I've heard from many people it is very good and one of those people is a thai friend who lives in Patumtanee and she loves it!