TUESDAY, April 23, 2024
nationthailand

5 mass-transit projects connecting Bangkok with 2 provinces taking shape

5 mass-transit projects connecting Bangkok with 2 provinces taking shape

Five mass-transit projects under construction in Bangkok, Samut Prakan and Nonthaburi provinces will be operational soon, government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said on Thursday.

The first off the blocks would be the Yellow Line, which connects Bangkok’s Lat Phrao district and Samrong area in Samut Prakan. The project is 99% complete – both in terms of the construction of tracks and stations and the mechanical and electrical systems.

Anucha said that the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) was conducting tests on the Yellow Line’s systems to ensure maximum safety before the country’s first monorail mass-transit system would start commercial service later this year.

“The MRTA will later inform the public about trial runs of the Yellow Line and the official start of its commercial services,” he said.

Meanwhile, trial runs on the Pink Line – another monorail mass-transit system linking Bangkok’s Minburi district and Nonthaburi’s Khae Rai area – has been scheduled for January next year and full commercial services would start in June next year, the government spokesman said.

Also, 99% of construction on the Orange Line’s eastern section, which connects Minburi and Thailand Cultural Centre station on the Blue Line, has been completed.

The Orange Line covers a distance of 35.9 kilometres, comprising a 22.5km stretch from Minburi in eastern Bangkok to the Thailand Cultural Centre, and a 13.4km section from the Thailand Cultural Centre to Bang Khun Non in western Bangkok.

The eastern section of the Orange Line is scheduled to open in August 2025. The western section is expected to open in December 2027, but its construction is yet to start.

Meanwhile, construction has made progress in the Pink Line’s extension connecting its Srirat station and Muang Thong Thani in Nonthaburi. Construction and installation of the electrical system is over 20% complete.

Construction on the southern section of the Purple Line, linking the existing Tao Poon station and Bangkok’s Rat Burana district, is over 10% completed.

Anucha said that the MRTA was restoring the road surface after being closed to traffic during the construction of the mass-transit projects now that the Orange Line, Yellow Line and Pink Line projects are almost completed.

He said the agency was expected to complete its road repairs and restore all the road surfaces affected by the construction by the year-end.

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