Bangkok: Joint ticket system for BTS and MRT by late 2015

[webfact]

Joint ticket system for BTS and MRT by late 2015

BANGKOK, 27 February 2014 (NNT) - Operators of the BTS Skytrain and the underground MRT services are set to issue joint tickets from late next year.

The Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning said that so far 6 consortiums have expressed interest in developing a joint pass for the Skytrain and the Subway. The groups include South Korea-based Lotte group, Indra Sistemas from Spain and Serox.

A vetting process will determine which group has tendered the most satisfactory offer. A suitable contractor is expected to be hired in May of this year. The joint ticketing system is set to be completed one year later.

Companies affiliated with the State Railway of Thailand are slated to oversee the system which will not only link up the two rail services but also extend to the Airport Link.

Plans to set up a common-ticketing system were discussed previously in 2011.


-- NNT 2014-02-27

[Centrum]

Jeez, late 2015.

How freaking hard can it be, <deleted>?

Thailand: Hub of ridiculous delays.

[Lakegeneve]

Thailand: Hub of ridiculous delays.

Especially when it has anything to do with mass transit.

Joint ticketing has been promised every year since 2008! However, both private operators have been reluctant fearing that they would lose revenue.

Both major parties made it an election promise in the 2011 election, originally to be introduced by 2013. That became 2014 which became early 2015 and now late next year.

That sort of delay would sound very familiar to anyone who waits for a new metro line coming to their neighborhood...........http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/406991-the-new-skytrain/page-11

[millwall_fan]

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Jeez, late 2015.

How freaking hard can it be, &lt;deleted&gt;?

Thailand: Hub of ridiculous delays.

I'm sure this has more to do with divvying up the rake off from each operation rather than any great technical complexity in uniting the ticketing systems of just 3 operations. BTS, SRT and MRT

A vetting process will determine which group has tendered the most satisfactory offer. I think we all know what that means!!

[camerata]

I wonder what will happen to the MRT's Elder Card once there is a joint ticketing system? Currently, expats over 60 can get discounted travel on MRT but not on the BTS.

[simple1]

Jeez, late 2015.

How freaking hard can it be, &lt;deleted&gt;?

Thailand: Hub of ridiculous delays.

There have been projects for integrated ticketing in Western countries that have had huge cost overuns, major delays and some project failures.

[Lupatria]

2015? If all things go on like now, that comes handy for the guerrilla troops fighting in Bangkok by then.

[Lupatria]

Jeez, late 2015.

How freaking hard can it be, &lt;deleted&gt;?

Thailand: Hub of ridiculous delays.

There have been projects for integrated ticketing in Western countries that have had huge cost overuns, major delays and some project failures.

And the tower of Babylon collapsed also, even there was no Thai involved. What is the relevance here?

[Kent maury]

Why Bangkok's BTS and subway "responsible people" did not consult Hong Kong about this years ago, and also to include local buses, with a one-pass fits all modes of transportation is beyond the realm of belief. This could have been done years ago. Hong Kong is on this and Bangkok transportation heads ... all they had to do was copy. But maybe that was too easy.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

I wonder what will happen to the MRT's Elder Card once there is a joint ticketing system? Currently, expats over 60 can get discounted travel on MRT but not on the BTS.

Yes, good question. I am guessing that since the BTS mandates Thai citizenship, it will be hard for the MRT bosses to insist on continuing to give elder foreigners the same deal as elder Thais.

[Card]

I wonder what will happen to the MRT's Elder Card once there is a joint ticketing system? Currently, expats over 60 can get discounted travel on MRT but not on the BTS.

Exactly my concern, as I have one. I suspect only Thai old codgers will be eligible after the merger. dam_n. The other possibilty is that only those farang old codgers who apply after the merger will be laughed at.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

Why Bangkok's BTS and subway "responsible people" did not consult Hong Kong about this years ago, and also to include local buses, with a one-pass fits all modes of transportation is beyond the realm of belief. This could have been done years ago. Hong Kong is on this and Bangkok transportation heads ... all they had to do was copy. But maybe that was too easy.

Pretty much the same in Seoul, Korea. I had a layover of 9 hours last year at Incheon Airport and bought a single machine-readable ticket that put me on the long airport rail system into the core, city buses and subway and back to the airport. No fuss, no muss. Can't remember what I paid but it was a good deal to spend a few hours touring Seoul, my first visit. Bought at the airport. If I brought the (reusable!) ticket back, I got a small refund. Brilliant!

With so many officials having their hands out, it takes years to get Thai projects going and finished. It's all rather disheartening.

[simple1]

Jeez, late 2015.

How freaking hard can it be, &lt;deleted&gt;?

Thailand: Hub of ridiculous delays.

There have been projects for integrated ticketing in Western countries that have had huge cost overuns, major delays and some project failures.

And the tower of Babylon collapsed also, even there was no Thai involved. What is the relevance here?

Did you read the OP and Centrum's post? If so easy to comprehend the relevance of my post

[Jonmarleesco]

I wonder how they will address the difference between the MRT's substantial discount for the 60+ age group, and the lack of anything like the same with the BTS.

[bangon04]

Is it too simple to use the Rabbit card for both systems. You load the card at either, and the barrier deducts the appropriate fare. How difficult can it be?

They already have a Rabbit app for the smartphones, so the technology is not the problem, is it?

[TheMysteriousMrTesla]

Is it too simple to use the Rabbit card for both systems. You load the card at either, and the barrier deducts the appropriate fare. How difficult can it be?

They already have a Rabbit app for the smartphones, so the technology is not the problem, is it?

The work has already been done by Thales to enable the Rabbit to work on the MRT.

There appear to be political or corporate rather than technical barriers

[lomatopo]

I think the Bangkok Metro Public Company Limited, they operate the MRT, may end up operating the Bearing/E14 - Samut Prakan/E23 BTS (Skytrain) extension, so assuming they do not expect riders to get off, pass though exit/entrance gates, and then get back on a train, they’ll need some sort of joint-ticketing/revenue sharing scheme by the time that extension opens.

http://www.mrta-greenline.net/

[planr]

Crossy... no comment?

[tx22cb]

Whilst the clever planners are at it, can they also have a go at consolidating the various expressway payment systems around BKK?

My Expressway card only works at the gantries in BKK.

When I go further north-west than Impact Arena, I need to pay cash at toll booths.

Similarly if I want to go to Pattaya or Chonburi.
And if I want to go on the Don Muang expressway, it's toll booths again.

If one card can be used for all tolls, that would solve one of my pet peeves ....

[JoeThePoster]

Okay, how many joints can I get with each ticket?

[Crossy]

Crossy... no comment?

Hmmm, I'm pretty closely involved in this project so cannot really comment, we are suffering from the normal Thai government speed restrictions, but with luck the end of next year is do-able.

The intention is to be very HK Octopus-like, and yes, it will include buses and the express-ways if all goes to plan, of course TiT

BTW, it's Xerox (formerly ACS) not Serox who are one of the six EOIs.

[planr]

Crossy... no comment?

Hmmm, I'm pretty closely involved in this project so cannot really comment, we are suffering from the normal Thai government speed restrictions, but with luck the end of next year is do-able.

The intention is to be very HK Octopus-like, and yes, it will include buses and the express-ways if all goes to plan, of course TiT

BTW, it's Xerox (formerly ACS) not Serox who are one of the six EOIs.

Yes, I very much understand

So these bits of news are for a separate contract that builds upon the ongoing work, as opposed to redundantly doing what you're doing, correct?

[Razzler1973]

I didn't even think about joint ticket things, can't believe there is any city that doesn't have such a system, usually they go in upon completion, don't they?

[Fookhaht]

Jeez, late 2015.

How freaking hard can it be, &lt;deleted&gt;?

Thailand: Hub of ridiculous delays.

There have been projects for integrated ticketing in Western countries that have had huge cost overuns, major delays and some project failures.

Why doesn't everyone just take a little "field trip" to Singapore or Hong Kong, and see how they do it?

Westerners afraid of "losing face" to more advanced Asian engineers and their systems? I thought so.

[millwall_fan]

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Why Bangkok's BTS and subway "responsible people" did not consult Hong Kong about this years ago, and also to include local buses, with a one-pass fits all modes of transportation is beyond the realm of belief. This could have been done years ago. Hong Kong is on this and Bangkok transportation heads ... all they had to do was copy. But maybe that was too easy.

Thai not need farang. Thai can do.

[Fookhaht]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Why Bangkok's BTS and subway "responsible people" did not consult Hong Kong about this years ago, and also to include local buses, with a one-pass fits all modes of transportation is beyond the realm of belief. This could have been done years ago. Hong Kong is on this and Bangkok transportation heads ... all they had to do was copy. But maybe that was too easy.

Thai not need farang. Thai can do.

He wasn't talking about farang. He was talking about your fellow Asian brothers.

Or was this satire? If so, throw in an emoticon to give us a clue.

[Crossy]

As others have noted, both HK and Singapore have excellent integrated systems. But it's important to remember that both have been a long time (20+ years) in development / evolution to get where they are. HK Octopus is on at least its 3rd incarnation, the Singapore system has a similar chequered history.

Silvester Prakasam of Singapore LTA wrote an excellent paper "Evolution of E-payments in Public Transport—Singapore’s Experience", worth a read, it should be on the net, PM me if you want a copy.

Rest assured that the OTP has taken advice from both Octopus and LTA as well as KSCC the Korean operator, of course TiT so whether any notice will be taken is debatable.

Bangkok currently has four smart-card based transit collection systems (BTS, MRT, BRT and ARL) as well as the Easy Pass tollway system and the Thai Smart Card payment system (mostly 7-Eleven) and a couple of NFC based pilot schemes (the AiS / Rabbit SIM for example). All are at present technically incompatible to various degrees, not insurmountable, but not a five minute job either.

Add to the mix the soon to roll out contactless EMV system (VISA PayWave, MasterCard PayPass) and we have an interesting and constantly evolving situation, should be a fun ride.

And of course, someone has to pay for it.

[varun]

Not for the next 10 years, but one can hope!

[Namplik]

Well today is the last day of 2015, can I use my Rabbit card on the MRT now? Or is it still a status quo?

[coops]

the motorways are another cockup... the easypass system ( say on the motorway/expressways around bangkok) do NOT work on the motorway to Pattaya, Nakhon Nayok and others because they are an 'M PASS'... which appears to be the exact same lump of plastic you stick on your windscreen.

Genius.