Sky train adds five new stations

BANGKOK’S popular mass transit system, the Skytrain, has added another five new stations on its Sukhumvit Line. These are Bang Chak (E10), Punnavithi (#11), Udomsuk (E12), Bang Na (E13) and Bearing (E14).  The extension from On Nut to Soi Bearing between Soi Sukhumvit 105 and 107 opened on August 12, to coincide with HM the Queen’s birthday. This new 5.28-kilometre extension of the Sukhumvit Line, which runs along Bangkok’s most important commercial and residential thoroughfare, Sukhumvit Road, now provides direct access to the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre. The service will be free only between the five new stations, until January 2, 2012, after which a 15 baht fee will be collected, on top of fees collected from the original BTS route.

Since its opening in December 1999, the SkyTrain has proved to be a blessing for tourists by helping them beat the city’s traffic conditions, and thus getting much better value for time spent there. The 30 stations along its combined length of 30.9 kilometres also provide access to a huge number of city attractions, shopping complexes and hotels.