Cabinet nod to be sought next year for long-awaited Brown Line monorail construction
The Brown Line, Bangkok’s third monorail mass-transit project linking Nonthaburi province and the city’s eastern zone, could be available for service by late 2028 if things go as planned, a Transport Ministry source said on Friday.
The Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) was preparing to propose to the Transport Ministry later this month that the long-awaited monorail route – first proposed in 2013 – be built to help ease traffic congestion in those areas, according to the source.
The 22.1-kilometre-long Brown Line, with 20 elevated stations, connects Nonthaburi’s Khae Rai intersection with Lam Salee intersection in Bangkok’s Bang Kapi district.
In the section that runs along Prasert Manukit Road, the Brown Line will share support pillars with the N2 Expressway scheduled to be constructed in 2027. The design calls for the monorail tracks to be built under the expressway.
The project’s estimated cost is 41.7 billion baht, including 12.4 billion baht for trains and signalling systems. The government has agreed to pay 19.9 billion baht to finance the construction costs under a public-private partnership while the concessionaire builds and operates the project on a 30-year concession.
The arrangement is similar to that of Bangkok’s two completed monorail routes – Yellow Line and Pink Line — which are operated by Eastern Bangkok Monorail Co Ltd and Northern Bangkok Monorail Co Ltd, respectively.
The 30.4km-long Yellow Line, linking Bangkok’s Lat Phrao district and Samut Prakan’s Samrong area, has been in service since June. The 34.5km-long Pink Line, which runs between the Nonthaburi Civic Centre and Bangkok’s Minburi district, is scheduled to start commercial service in December.
According to the source, once the Transport Ministry gives the Brown Line the go-ahead, the project’s environmental impact assessment report will be finalised within the year-end.
The ministry was expected to seek Cabinet approval for the construction of the project next year so that bidding for the concessionaire could be held around late next year and the contract signing could take place within 2025, the source said.
The construction of the Brown Line would take about three years to complete, and the new monorail was expected to start commercial service around late 2028, according to the source.
The Brown Line is designed to be a “feeder line” in the city’s mass transit system. It has interchanges connecting the Red Line, Green Line, Yellow Line, Grey Line, and Orange Line. The last two routes are not yet in service.
