Rail systems

On the birthday of HM King Rama IX, 5 December 1999, an elevated two-line Skytrain (officially called BTS) metro system was opened. The remains of the failed BERTS (Hopewell) project can still be seen all the way from the main railroad station out towards Don Mueang Airport. Due to the Asian financial crisis of 1997 construction was halted and the concrete pillars were left unused.

The MRT subway system opened for use in July 2004. The MRT connects the northern train station of Bang Sue to the Hua Lamphong central railway station near the city centre, while also going through the eastern part of Bangkok. It connects to the BTS system at BTS stations Mo Chit, Asok, and Sala Daeng.

A new high speed elevated railroad called the Suvarnabhumi Airport Link, links the city with the new Suvarnabhumi Airport. The announced opening date after facing many delays was finally set on August 23, 2010. The Airport Express railway and City line (commuter service) is operated by the State Railway of Thailand. It provides a 28.5 km (17.7 mi) link between the new airport and the City Air Terminal (CAT) at Makkasan where it connects with MRT Phetchaburi station and has another connection to the BTS at Phaya Thai. There are plans to extend the line to Don Mueang and Rangsit (SRT Dark Red Line), but again, this is very dependent on the political situation.

Plans have been approved for a further extension of the BTS Silom line from Wongwian Yai to Bang Wa (4.5 km/2.8 mi), Samrong to Samut Prakan (8 km/5.0 mi), Mo Chit to Saphan Mai (11.9 km/7.4 mi) and the National Stadium to Phran Nok (7.7 km/4.8 mi). This includes five underground stations in the Rattanakosin area. The State Railway of Thailand has also been given approval to complete the Dark Red and Light Green lines. Alongside, MRT has also begun construction on two new lines, the Purple line from Bang Yai to Bang Sue, and the Blue line from Hua Lampong to Bang Khae and Bang Sue to Tha Pra.

For intercity travel by train, most passengers begin their trips at Hua Lamphong at the southern end of the MRT. Here, trains connect Bangkok to Malaysia in the south, Chiang Mai to the north, and Nong Khai to the northeast and beyond to Laos.

When viewing the map, not all MRT and BTS lines stop at every station. Currently, the blue MRT line goes from Hua Lampong to Asok. The two BTS lines extend from Mo Chit to On Nut, and from National Stadium to Wongwian Yai. This line's final stop used to be Saphan Taksin station but has subsequently been extended across the Chao Phraya River to Wongwian Yai. Stations with BTS/MRT interchange are Mo Chit, Sala Daeng, and Asok.

Bangkok Rapid Transit System

BTS Sukhumvit Line (extension under construction)
BTS Silom Line (extension under construction)
MRT Blue Line (extension planned)
SRT Airport Link
MRT Purple Line (under construction)
MRT Orange Line (planned)
MRT Yellow Line (planned)
MRT Pink Line (planned)
SRT Dark Red Line (planned)
SRT Light Red Line (under construction)
MRT Grey Line (planned)
MRT Light Blue Line (planned)