Pink Line crisis ends: Five stations reopen, free fare from Wednesday

Vithaya Punmongkol, Deputy Governor of Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA), announced on Wednesday that the MRTA had conducted an on-site inspection to verify readiness before reopening the Pink Line Monorail service.

The service had been temporarily suspended at five stations, from Nonthaburi Civic Centre Station to Royal Irrigation Department Station, between September 13 – 21, 2025, due to a malfunction in the conductor rail system.

Service Resumption and Fares

• The inspection confirmed that all issues have been resolved, and the service has returned to normal operation, starting from Wednesday at 4pm.
• No fares will be collected at the five previously closed stations until the end of Wednesday.
• Normal fare collection for all five stations will resume on December 5, 2025.

Cause of Malfunction and Repairs

Vithaya further explained that during the closure period, MRTA and related agencies inspected the switch panels on both the Pink and Yellow lines (as they use the same system).

They determined that the root cause of the service disruption was a single point of failure in the conductor rail system.

Northern Bangkok Monorail Co., Ltd. (NBM), the private concessionaire for the Pink Line Monorail (Khae Rai-Min Buri section), initially ordered 3 kilometres (km) of imported spare parts and equipment to replace the switch panels connecting the power supply system.

Additionally, 1 km of spare parts and equipment were secured as backup.

The repair process also involved an added measure: designing and installing additional rail fastening equipment to limit damage to the conductor rail and expedite future repairs.

This extra step extended the normal operational duration.

Long-Term Prevention Measures

"Moving forward, the long-term plan to prevent similar problems involves MRTA inspecting the monorail system every 15 days, reduced from the previous schedule of every 30 days. We will also ensure all parts of the system are 100% updated. We confirm that this type of incident will not happen again, as new parts have been installed and the operating system has been thoroughly tested," said Vithaya.

Detailed Technical Explanation

Pichet Kunathamraks, Director-General of the Department of Rail Transport (DRT), provided a technical explanation for the five-station closure.

On the day of the incident (September 12, 2025), there was a misalignment at the electrical switch panel joint of the conductor rail system.

This caused the train's power collector shoes and the power rail to overlap, leading to a component falling off and rendering the line inoperable.

The concessionaire immediately addressed the issue, importing necessary parts and equipment.

The total repair cost for the 3 km section was approximately THB200 million, which is being covered by the insurance company as the line is still under warranty.

Increased Service and Passenger Volume

Following the full resumption of normal service, passengers can now travel the entire Pink Line route without needing to change trains.

• All 24 train sets are now operational.
• Service frequency has been increased to every 5 minutes during peak hours and every 10 minutes during off-peak hours, with trains running at a speed of 40 km/h.

Passenger volume on the Pink Line (Khae Rai-Min Buri section) averages 80,000 people per day.

The temporary closure of the five stations resulted in a 5% drop, reducing the average to approximately 76,000 people per day.

For the Muang Thong Thani Extension, average daily ridership is about 3,000 – 4,000 people on weekdays and averages 10,000 people on weekends.

During major holidays, ridership on the extension can peak as high as 80,000 people per day.