THAILAND: Agreements have been signed for the construction of a branch off the Bangkok MRT Pink Line monorail to serve exhibition, hotel and retail destinations to the north of the city.
Expected to cost 4bn baht to complete, the 3 km branch will run from Si Rat to stations at IMPACT Muang Thong Thani and Muang Thong Thani Lake.
Construction of the rest of the Pink Line straddle monorail including 30 stations is now 89% now complete, with partial opening envisaged by early 2023.
The agreement for the extension was signed on August 2 by Bangkok Land Public Co Ltd and Northern Bangkok Monorail Co, a subsidiary of Pink Line concessionaire BSR which is a consortium of BTS Group, Sino-Thai Engineering & Construction and Ratch Group. BLAND will contribute 1·29bn baht towards the construction cost, and provide 10·35m baht/year for maintenance once the line opens.
The branch is expected to open in 2025, with ridership estimated at 13 785 passenger-journeys per day. A ‘skywalk’ will provide access to the IMPACT exhibition centre, hotels and shops.
BLAND Chairman Peter Kanjanapas said the line would benefit more than 300 000 residents and workers in Muang Thong Thani, and as well as more than 10 million exhibition and conference visitors each year. ‘We have planned to develop the area into a mixed-use project to meet the new generation’s lifestyle better’, he explained.
