BTS spends B10 million to fix Skytrain delays, announces free tickets
THE BTS Skytrain operator says it has spent more than Bt10 million as of today to set up new radio communication equipment and signal filters throughout its system.
The installation will be completed over the weekend to ensure smooth support for the train system, said Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc chairman Keeree Kanjanapas yesterday at a press conference called to announce the compensation for passengers affected by recent service delays.
Keeree said that this is in addition to the measures set up over the last week. The company also confirmed that it has introduced mitigation measures applicable to service delays lasting more than 30 minutes providing such delays are not caused by force majeure.
The mitigation measure for each type of ticket is as follows: for train delays above 30 minutes, passengers holding a Single Journey Ticket can redeem them for a cash refund within the same day at a ticket office, or can receive or retain a ticket of the same value that is valid for travel within 14 days from the date of issue.
For passengers holding a Rabbit Card for adults, students or senior citizens, fares will not be deducted upon exit through a gate assigned by a member of the station’s staff. For passengers holding a 30-day pass for adult or student, fares will not be deducted in cases where the train service is delayed, but they must exit through a gate assigned by a station staff member. They will also receive an additional two trips per day of delay.
The company will also introduce the BTS SkyTrain app, that will provide passengers with real-time status updates on train service, service delays and platform overcrowding. This measure will help passengers make decisions on their use of the train service. The application will launch on August 1.
Meanwhile, for the train service delays that occurred from June 25 to 27, BTS will provide reimbursement to passengers as follows: passengers who held a Single Journey Ticket during the train failures can retain the ticket and use it within 14 days from the date of issue. Those who do not wish to travel may request a cash refund at the ticket office of all BTS stations by July 31.
Passengers holding a Rabbit Card for adults, students or senior citizens during the same period of delays will receive three additional trips, while passengers holding a 30-day pass for adults or students with trips remaining on their pass during the train services delay will receive an additional six trips.
Passengers may contact any BTS ticket office to receive special additional trips.
“We forecast that over 100,000 of our passengers will redeem reimbursement from our service delays between June 25-27,” |Keeree said.
