Bidding for western section of Orange Line to kick off in October
Bidding for the Mass Rapid Transit Authority (MRTA) Orange Line’s Min Buri – Bang Khun Non section will kick off again in October after a bidding session earlier this year was cancelled over graft allegations.
“The MRTA bidding committee will meet this month to approve the terms of reference and then sell bidding envelopes from October,” MRTA governor Pakapong Sirikantaramas said last week.
“We expect interested parties to prepare their proposals and submit them by January next year. The consideration and negotiation process will take another three months, so the bidding should be concluded by April 2022.”
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Orange Line auction ‘to go ahead in October’ despite court cases
In late 2019, the Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTSC), which had bid for the Orange Line, filed a lawsuit against MRTA claiming the bidding conditions had been altered at the request of fellow bidder Italian-Thai Development, despite opposition from BTSC.
The ensuing legal dispute saw bidding for the 13.4-kilometre, 128-billion-baht western section of the Orange Line scrapped altogether on February 3.
On September 1, the Supreme Administrative Court upheld the lower court’s decision to dismiss the case after months of investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Commission and Department of Special Administration.
The project comprises the laying of 13.4km of tracks from Thailand Cultural Centre to Bang Khun Non stations and installation of the train system and overseeing the operation of the 35.9km rail line from Min Buri to Bang Khun Non. The Orange Line is scheduled to be ready for public use in the third quarter of 2027.
