With a total expenditure of around 220 billion baht, the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) will compel the Transport Ministry to move through with three mass transit projects in Bangkok and Phuket.
The Orange and Brown lines in Bangkok and a mass-transit project in Phuket are the two projects, according to MRTA Governor Pakapong Sirikantaramas on Tuesday.
The Bang Khun Non neighborhood of Bangkok Noi’s district, on the western bank of the Chao Phraya River, is connected to Bangkok’s Min Buri district through the Orange Line.
The western expansion, which will extend 13.4 kilometers and connect the Thailand Cultural Centre station to Bang Khun Non, has not yet begun construction, while the eastern side, which currently stretches 22.57 kilometers from Min Buri to the Thailand Cultural Centre station, is almost finished.
According to Mr. Pakapong, a dispute over the bidding process has caused a delay in the construction of the Orange Line’s western expansion. The entire cost is anticipated to be over 140 billion baht.
The second project, which will cost 49 billion baht and span 22.1 kilometers from Khae Rai in Nonthaburi to Lam Sali in Bangkok, still needs to receive approval.
The public-private partnership (PPP) feasibility study, the terms of the tender, and an analytical report have previously been accepted by the MRTA board. Before presenting the plan to the Transport Ministry, the MRTA will solicit comments on it from relevant organizations, he noted.
According to Mr. Pakapong, the Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat) and the MRTA would collaborate on a segment that crosses Prasert Manukitch Road. According to him, a 7.2 km long new motorway will be built over the monorail.
The third plan is the Phuket Mass Transit project, a light rail system with a total length of 42 km and a price tag of 33 billion baht that runs from the Phuket International Airport to the Ha Yaek Chalong intersection.
The project, according to Mr. Pakapong, is now on hold because the MRTA needs direction from the incoming transport minister before it can proceed.
The MRTA intends to build mass transit networks in other major cities, like as Chiang Mai, Nakhon Ratchasima, and Phitsanulok, in addition to Phuket.
He said that while the feasibility studies for the projects in these two cities were finished, a consulting firm was now being sought for the research in Phitsanulok.
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