BANGKOK — Those traveling from the old and new MRT lines between Tao Poon and Bang Sue stations will have to hop on a bus for at least a year before the rails are connected.
The Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand said yesterday it would not be able to operate a train to serve the missing, kilometer-long link between the Blue Line’s terminal station and the Purple Line when it opens in August.
The soonest the stations will be connected is by July 2017, MRTA Gov. Peerayuth Singpattanakul said Monday. Plan will go to the interim cabinet for approval by October, he added, after which the Bangkok Expressway and Metro operators would need another 10 months to build the infrastructure.
While the two stations do not connect, passengers wanting to travel between Nonthaburi province and inner Bangkok will be able to ride a shuttle between both stations from 6am to midnight. The frequency will depend on the amount of passengers.
Another solution is to take a regular train from the Purple Line’s Bang Son station, one stop before Tao Poon, to Bang Sue train station, which is colocated with MRT Bang Sue. But those trains will only run during rush hours, from 6:30am to 9:30am and 4pm to 8:30pm.
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