The MRTA needs to join the “missing link” between the line’s Tao Poon station and the Blue Line’s Bang Sue station as soon as possible, Samart Ratchapolsitte, a former deputy governor for Bangkok, said in a Facebook post yesterday.

A subway link between the two stations would be much better than the free shuttle-bus service provided temporarily to cover the one-kilometre “missing link” between the two stations.

Purple Line, which runs from Tao Poon and Bang Yai, opened on August 6 but is only getting about 20,000 riders a day, less than a third of what the MRTA expected.

Samart said the MRTA now earns about Bt600,000 a day from ticket fees, compared to its daily costs of Bt3.6 million in running the Purple Line.

“That means the MRTA is losing Bt3 million a day, which is a big burden for them,” he said.

He also suggested that the price of tickets and parking at MRTA park-and-ride building should be cut to attract more passengers.