Select Bangkokians can ride Pink, Yellow monorail lines for free from December

Pichet Kunadhamraks, RTD director-general, said the Yellow Line will be open partially from Samrong to Pavana station, while the Pink Line will start running from Minburi to Government Complex station.

He said free rides will only be provided to those who register in advance, adding that interested schools, universities, agencies and companies as well as individuals can contact the department to register.

The free rides will be available until February, after which fares will be charged, he said.

He added the fares will be calculated based on the consumer price index, adding that a rough calculation last month saw the rates to be around 15 to 45 baht based on the distance. Pichet said RTD has yet to decide on whether it should come up with special rates for students and the elderly or offer monthly promotions.

Pichet said he has spoken to the Mass Rapid Transit Authority and the two concessionaires – Eastern Bangkok Monorail and Northern Bangkok Monorail – and they have agreed to speed up the construction so partial test rides can start in December.

He added that the concessionaires were also asked to install ticket reading machines that support Europay, Mastercard and Visa as well as the existing Rabbit cards that are already being used on the Skytrain and BRT buses.

The MRT Pink Line is an elevated monorail that runs between Bangkok and Nonthaburi. The line will be 34.5 kilometres long and will have 30 stations from Khae Rai in Nonthaburi to Minburi in Bangkok.

The MRT Yellow Line, also elevated, links the capital with Samut Prakan province. This line will be 30.4km and will have 23 stations from Lat Phrao to Samrong.