PUBLISHED: 3 October 2023 at 4:00 p.m.
According to Pakapong Sirikantaramas, the governor of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand( MRTA ), the plan to expand the Yellow Line electric train route has been shelved because it hasn’t piqued the interest of potential investors.
The Eastern Bangkok Monorail( EBM ), a division of Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc, put forth the idea of constructing an additional 2.6 km to connect the Yellow Line’s Lat Phrao station to the Ratchayothin region and the MRT Blue Line.
The Mass Rapid Transit Master Plan in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region ( M-Map ), a 20-year plan for building primary and secondary public transportation networks( 2010 – 2029 ), did not include it.
The MRTA and the EBM have had numerous discussions about the suggested improvement. Before the Yellow Line began operating commercially on June 3, funding in reference line construction had been taken into consideration.
According to Mr. Pakapong, the investment plan has now been put on hold because no private shareholders have responded to the MRTA’s plan in the allotted time.
The 30.4-kilometer Yellow Line has been operating on ordinary 40, 000 passengers per day on weekdays and 28, 000 on weekends since its launch, a decrease from the route’s regular ridership of 70,000 during its free test.
According to Mr. Pakapong, the MRTA contributed 2.5 billion ringgit to the Yellow Line’s civil engineering labor during its first year of operation.
Over the course of the next ten years, MRTA may be paying this sum annually. When the Economic Internal Rate of Return ( EIRR ) reaches 10 %, the agency will be paid from the operator of the line’s revenue sharing.