page_title: BTS Skytrain
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: BTS Skytrain / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Sky Train Silom Bangkok Photo D Ramey Logan
context_page_description: The Bangkok Mass Transit System, commonly known as the BTS or the Skytrain, is an elevated rapid transit system in Bangkok, Thailand. It is operated by Bangkok Mass Transit System PCL, a subsidiary of BTS Group Holdings, under a concession granted by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. The system consists of 52 stations along two lines: the Sukhumvit Line running northwards and south-eastwards, terminating at Wat Phra Sri Mahathat and Kheha respectively. The Silom Line which serves Silom and Sathon Roads, the central business district of Bangkok, terminates at National Stadium and Bang Wa. The lines interchange at Siam station and have a combined route length of 53.5 kilometers. The system is formally known as "the Elevated Train in Commemoration of HM the King's 6th Cycle Birthday".
  Besides the BTS, Bangkok's rapid transit system includes the underground and elevated Mass Rapid Transit railway lines, the Bus Rapid Transit System, and the elevated Airport Rail Link, serving several stations in the city before reaching Suvarnabhumi Airport.
context_section_description: Plans for mass transit in Bangkok began in the early-1980s. An early version of the Skytrain project was known as the Lavalin Skytrain because it was designed using the Vancouver SkyTrain as a model, adopting technology developed by SNC-Lavalin. Due to political interference, the concession with Lavalin was cancelled in June 1992, despite Bangkok's chronic traffic congestion. The Thai Government focused on increasing road and expressway infrastructure in an attempt to reduce the congestion. This had little impact as the number of cars on the road continued to increase dramatically. The routes considered as part of the Skytrain project would become the basis for the MRT system and are mainly underground. In the early-1990s, foundations and a viaduct for the Lavalin Skytrain were constructed in the middle of the Phra Pok Klao Bridge across the Chao Phraya River. The planned metro bridge remains unused but may become part of the MRT's future Purple Line.
  Another abortive attempt at building an elevated rail network was the Bangkok Elevated Road and Train System (BERTS), which was terminated in 1998 after only 13.77 percent had been completed.
  Shortly after it became clear that the Lavalin Skytrain had stalled, then-Governor Major General Chamlong Srimuang asked his deputy, Captain Kritsada Arunwong na Ayutthaya, to create a new feeder system with a route along Sukhumvit and Silom Roads. Krisda and his team from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) succeeded in finding a private investor. Krisda also convinced everyone concerned to allow the city supervise the project. Keeree Kanjanapas founded the Bangkok Transit System Corporation (BTSC) and it successfully financed the system and grew it from a feeder system to a full mass transit project. Thanayong Public Company Limited (SET: TYONG, Thai: บริษัท ธนายง จำกัด (มหาชน)) had a 28 percent stake in BTSC when the Skytrain began, and therefore in its early days the system was sometimes referred to as the "Thanayong Skytrain".
  Siemens, the supplier of the railway technology, and the Thai contractor, Italian Thai Development, built the system for BTSC. The "Skytrain" name was bestowed later by the press following the Vancouver example where the elevated metro had been named "Skytrain". Originally, the Skytrain depot was to be built underneath Lumphini Park, but due to widespread objections from Bangkok residents it was constructed on a parcel of land on Phahonyothin Road, replacing the old northern/northeastern bus terminal (Mo Chit). The current depot at Mo Chit is part of the proposed "Bangkok Terminal" project, where a large complex composed of a new regional bus terminal, park and ride facility, and other commercial development can be built directly above it.
  The Skytrain system was opened on 5 December 1999 by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. It initially had lower-than-predicted ridership, with 200,000 passenger trips per day. Ticket revenue was only enough to meet the trains' operating cost, and not sufficient to service construction loans.  The Skytrain's daily passenger numbers have steadily increased since then. On 9 December 2005, more than 500,000 single trips were made on the Skytrain on a single day for the first time. By September 2012, the Skytrain served around 600,000 passengers on an average day, increasing to 650,000 on an average weekday in 2013. A record 760,000 passengers traveled on Sunday, 22 December 2013, a day of mass political protest in Bangkok. The normal Sunday average is 400,000 passengers. The BTS has a fleet of 52 four-car trains (208 carriages). Forty-six new four-car trains (184 carriages) are on order. They will address
  growing capacity requirements of the existing lines and the full launch of Northern and Southern Green Line extensions. They will be delivered from 2018–2021.
  On March 5, 2020, the BTS made a song about the COVID-19 pandemic, as an antidote to the grim warnings about the coronavirus, showing the staff dancing and keeping hygiene.
caption: Skytrain departing Sala Daeng station
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