Close to 80,000 passengers rode on the Yellow Line at the start of its trial run at the weekend as the Department of Rail Transport eyes extending the trial to all 23 stations around the middle of this month.
Pichet Kunadhamraks, the DRT’s director-general, said the monorail service has currently opened 13 stations from Hua Mak to Samrong during the trial run.
Mr Pichet said many people turned up for the trial run, with 38,521 passengers on Saturday and 36,879 passengers on Sunday.
Yellow Line trains run every 10 minutes, with operating hours from 9am to 8pm daily. Rides are free of charge, with passengers acquiring free tickets at the booth of every station.
Mr Pichet said the trial run went smoothly, and no issues were reported.
“After one week of the trial run, we will consider opening all 23 stations from Lat Phrao in Bangkok to Samrong in Samut Prakan,” he added.
The 30.4km-long Yellow Line is interlinked with the Green Line at Samrong Station, the Airport Rail Link at Hua Mak Station and the Blue Line at Lat Phrao Station, Mr Pichet said.
Soon the Yellow Line will also be connected to the Orange Line via Yaek Lam Sali station.
He said the number of passengers joining the trial run would increase on weekdays because of the Yellow Line’s interchanges with other city trains such as MRT, BTS and Airport Rail Link.
The Yellow Line is expected to help ease congestion on Srinakarin Road and Lat Phrao Road, as many commuters will use the monorail service instead of their cars, Mr Pichet said.
The Yellow Line is expected to begin commercial operations next month, with fares ranging from 15 to 45 baht.