MRT Purple Line

The MRT Purple Line opened on 6aug2016 without much ado. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MRT_Purple_Line

It runs between Tao Pun เตาปูน (Bang Sue district, Bangkok) and Khlong Bang Phai คลองบางไผ่ (Bang Bua Thong district, Nonthaburi). Official name รถไฟฟ้ามหานคร สายฉลองรัชธรรม MRT Chalong Ratchadham line.


from: http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-news/701100/coming-soon-the-purple-line

for another map and fares see:
https://twitter.com/stickboybangkok/status/753141283816734720

The most interesting feature is what was dubbed "the missing link", a 1.0 km gap between MRT Bang Sue and MRT Tao Poon, that is currently bridged by shuttle bus (Bang Sue - Tao Poon) and train (Bang Sue - Bang Son บางซ่อน). Timetable for shuttle:





Update Jul 2017: MRT now runs to Tao Pun station.

This is not the only spectacular fail of public transport planning in Bangkok:

Poor public transport to/from Mor Chit 2 bus station (it would have taken just one more MRT station after Bang Sue to connect Mor Chit 2 with MRT).
 
When the ARL was opened, there was no connection between ARL Makkasan and MRT Petchaburi (I once had to drag my luggage about 500 over poor sidewalk and road, before a connection was built) Still, there is no direct elevator to get from ARL Makkasan to MRT Petchaburi, you have to change once on ground level.

City Line and Express Line was not well thought out, and operation of Express Line has been discontinued.

A unified cashless payment system for all systems (MRT, BTS, ARL) is going to be introduced in 2017, after over 10 years running parallel with different cashless payment systems.

And let's not forget that most BTS ticket automates cannot handle banknotes, necessitating counters where you can change notes into coins!

But back to the MRT Purple Line. Operated by the same company as the underground, but running elevated like skytrain. That means you have a great view, but there is not much to see.

  

The only interesting places I could come up with are Wat Pleng (pink temple, details upcoming post, 1.3 km by foot from Sai Ma ไทรม้า station) and big Chinese temple Wat Borom Raja Kanjanapisek วัดบรมราชากาญจนาภิเษกอนุสรณ์, 4.6 km by car from คลองบางไผ่ Khlong Bang Phai station).

Others rode the Purple Line before me and wrote about it: http://llz.blogspot.com/2016/11/back-to-sprawling-bangkok.html
(Did you notice the homophones rode and wrote?)  

And public transport fails elsewhere as well: the railway line from Nong Khai into Lao ends on a field, when it could have gone into Vientiane.


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