Drive to cut BTS rider numbers to 25%

Health authorities are demanding the BTS skytrain operator limit its passenger numbers to only 250, a quarter of its 1,000 per train capacity, to ensure safer trips during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Apart from adhering to this request, “passengers need to remind themselves to keep a distance of at least one-metre from one another”, permanent secretary for transport, Chaiwat Tongkamkoon said yesterday.

The Transport Ministry wants BTS lines, which run through many key crowded districts in Bangkok, to better control passenger numbers after a system error put a halt to some trains on Tuesday, causing people to pack into train compartments during rush hour.

To combat Covid-19, the ministry vowed to keep the BTS and all other modes of public transport on track with social-distancing guidelines.

But Mr Chaiwat admitted to problems over the Blue Line subway, which may not be able to serve a large number of people because the operator cannot increase the frequency of train trips being demanded on safety grounds.

“We need to better arrange service areas from station entrances to train platforms to make social distancing possible,” Mr Chaiwat said.

Meanwhile, Pakapong Sirikantaramas, governor of the Mass Rapid Transit

Authority (MRTA) of Thailand, said the agency and Bangkok Expressway and Metro Plc, the operator of the MRT, will add six more trains during the morning and evening rush hours. He said the additional trains will make their first stops at the most crowded stations.

However, Mr Pakapong conceded passengers may spend more time waiting due to the MRTA’s measures to limit the number of passengers entering its system.