Passengers noted that services on the 46km orbital route could be more frequent and that the reintroduction of air-conditioned carriages would be a godsend. Other points highlighted by passengers were a lack of seats at peak commute times and no orderly queuing systems at station ticket offices.
A final complaint was that other passengers sometimes ate food on the trains and just threw any wrapping down on the carriage floors. Circle Line services are due to be improved and Myanmar Railways has set a deadline of 2019 for the inauguration of new locomotives and carriages which are being partly paid for by a US$200 loan endorsed by the JICA.
The Circle Line is an easy and inexpensive means of getting off the beaten track in Yangon. At Yangon Central, the ticket office for trains is on Platform 7. This station is the terminus for trains from Mandalay. 12GO ASIA sells train, bus and aeroplane tickets for key travel routes in Myanmar.
Myanmar Rail studies passenger experience on Yangon urban services
News in Asia
Myanmar Railways quizzed passengers on their experiences riding the Yangon Circle Line last week. The survey was conducted in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and was designed to collate useful data to enhance the commuting and sightseeing travel experience in the country’s main city.