MRT Bangyai-Bangsue line to be trialed December



BANGKOK, 14 May 2015 (NNT) – The Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) will be trialing its Bang Yai-Bang Sue subway line late this year, before officially beginning operations.

The 23-kilometer Bang Yai-Bang Sue route, or the Purple Line, will begin its trial services in December. Its first three trains total nine carriages and will be imported from Japan in September. Systems testing will then be carried out to ensure smooth operations before the trial service starts.

The public will be able to use the Purple Line for free during the trial period. It will officially begin operations on August 12, 2016. It is the second project under the supervision of the MRTA in the past ten years, following the introduction of Chalerm Ratchamongkol Line.

The Purple Line project will have 21 trains or 63 carriages with a service capacity of at least 50,000 passengers per hour. The project was built on a budget of 82 billion baht.


-- NNT 2015-05-14

Please note that according to my contact in MRTA the above is a work of fiction

And there is no way that the public will be allowed on the system during trial running until it has been certified as safe (even for free operation).

So the Admin say we will have free rides....and the Moderator say we will not have free rides

Why does it need a good nine months to trial it - from December this year until August and Her Majesty's birthday next year? They should know within a week if it works or not.

It gets even crazier, Bangkok Post is reporting it will open in March.