CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

BTS Skytrain

elevated rapid transit system in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 27, 2026
Entity authorityQ806501 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Bangkok Mass Transit System, commonly known as the BTS Skytrain (Thai: รถไฟฟ้าบีทีเอส RTGS: rot fai fa [BTS]), is an elevated rapid transit system in Bangkok, Thailand. It is operated by Bangkok Mass Transit System PCL (BTSC), a subsidiary of BTS Group Holdings, under a concession granted by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) which owns the lines. The system consists of 62 stations along three lines with a combined route length of 70.05 kilometers (43.53 mi). The BTS Sukhumvit Line runs northwards and south-eastwards, terminating at Khu Khot and Kheha respectively. The BTS Silom Line which serves Silom and Sathon Roads, the central business district of Bangkok, terminates at National Stadium and Bang Wa. The Gold Line people mover runs from Krung Thon Buri to Klong San and serves Iconsiam. The lines interchange at Siam station and Krung Thon Buri. The system is formally known as "The Elevated Train in Commemoration of HM the King's 6th Cycle Birthday" (รถไฟฟ้าเฉลิมพระเกียรติ 6 รอบ พระชนมพรรษา).

Besides the three BTS lines, Bangkok's rapid transit system includes the underground and elevated Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines, the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT), and the elevated Airport Rail Link (ARL), serving several stations before reaching Suvarnabhumi Airport, and the SRT Red Lines of the State Railway of Thailand.

History

Plans for mass transit in Bangkok began in the early 1980s.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “BTS Skytrain” as elevated rapid transit system in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current 224-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1999-01-01. The account is most persuasive where Skytrain, elevated and rapid can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as elevated rapid transit system in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q806501. Authority coordinates are 13.803, 100.554. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “BTS Skytrain”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow BTS Skytrain primary sources, BTS Skytrain archive and Skytrain research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “BTS Skytrain”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “BTS Skytrain” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.