Over half a million passengers use rail transport on first day of Songkran week
The Rail Transport Department reported that 656,325 people travelled by rail on Monday, the day Thais started heading back to their hometowns for the April 13-15 Songkran holiday.
Most – 613,517 – were commuters of electric trains in Bangkok and surrounding provinces, while the remaining 42,808 used interprovincial State Railway of Thailand trains.
The BTS Green and Gold lines recorded the most passengers, at 377,538, followed by the MRT Blue Line – 172,987 – and the Airport Rail Link – 31,657. As for interprovincial routes, Southern trains witnessed the most passengers, at 13,216 people, followed by the Northeastern route – 11,375 – and the Northern route – 9,364.
The department expected Tuesday to see the most passengers using rail transport, and has prepared for increasing commuters by adding extra trains on the following routes: Bangkok-Chiang Mai, Bangkok-Ubon Ratchathani, Ubon Ratchathani-Bangkok and Bangkok-Sila At (Uttaradit).
The department also reported one rail accident on Monday, which resulted in minor damage to the normal train running from Bangkok to Phitsanulok, with no injuries.
On Tuesday, however, the Bangkok-Ubon Ratchathani express train hit a motorcycle at an intersection with no barriers before Ayutthaya station at around 11am, resulting in the deaths of the motorcycle driver and the pillion rider.
