Bangkok’s MRT system may start selling trip-based tickets with off-peak discounts in some locations to convince more passengers to hang up their car keys and ride the rails.
The Mass Rapid Transit Authority wants to reduce fares for passengers on the MRT Blue and Purple lines by roughly one-third, with its governor, Phakhaphong Sirikantharamas, saying the plan would come into effect by year’s end if approved.
The train operator wants to sell bundles of trips like those now offered by the BTS Skytrain, that would lower fares by roughly 33%.
Rather than paying the current maximum fare of THB70 (US$2.30), strap-hangers would pay between THB52 and THB47 per trip when buying 15 trips or 50 trips, respectively.
The MRT is also proposing discounts for passengers along the three-year-old Purple Line from MRT Tao Poon to Bang Yai during off-peak hours: 9am to 3pm on weekdays and all day on weekends. Fares would fall to between THB14 and THB20 – about half of what they can add up to now.
Phakhaphong said that the Purple Line has a daily ridership of about 70,000 passengers compared to the 400,000 who ride the Blue Line running between BTS Bang Sue and Hua Laphong. He hopes that a new Purple Line extension to Tha Phra, scheduled to open early next year, will double Blue Line ridership up to 800,000 a day.
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