The director explained that the two routes will both be mono-rail and the surveys need to be completed before planning approval is granted to ensure they will be structurally sound. He also noted that the surveys needed to be fully detailed as the MRTA’s board of governors had decided to raise funding for the two lines from private investors.
Mr Singpatanakul finished off by saying the draught construction plan and blueprints needed to be completed before the agency could submit them to the Transport Ministry. As a codicil, he claimed MRTA planners would speed up their surveys so the projects could get underway.
If the Pink line gets the go ahead it will run east from Pak Kret in Nonthaburi to Minburi. The proposed Yellow Line track will connect Lat Phrao and Samut Prakan. Both routes are just over 30kms long and between them will add 50-plus stations to the MRTA network.
Bangkok transport operator in compulsory land purchase bid
News in Asia
Bangkok’s urban transport operator wants to expropriate land for two new rail lines before it has even been given planning approval. Peerayudh Singpatanakul, the director of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA), says the plan is to petition the Transport Ministry to allow the expropriation of land to enable surveyors to carry out technical assessments on the Yellow and Pink lines.