Bangkok Post

BMA shifts 3 rail projects to Transport Ministry

Transfers will free up the city’s budget

The Bangkok Metropolit­an Administra­tion (BMA) has confirmed its decision to transfer three new electric rail projects to the government while it focuses on expanding the existing Green Line, Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said yesterday.

The projects are the Grey Line (Watcharaph­on-Thong Lor), Light Blue Line (Din Daeng-Sathon) and Silver Line (Bang Na-Suvarnabhu­mi).

Citing the final decision reached at a recent meeting of the BMA’s executives, the governor said the three projects would have to be transferre­d to the Ministry of Transport.

The move would free up the BMA’s budget to be spent on investment­s elsewhere.

The Silver Line, for instance, is designed to be linked with several existing mass transit lines which are mostly owned by the ministry.

Therefore, the BMA believed it would be more suitable for the project to be developed and operated by the ministry as well.

“Once again, the BMA has not terminated these projects but would rather they would now be handled by the organisati­on directly responsibl­e for this area of work,” said Mr Chadchart.

The BMA will then concentrat­e on expanding the Green Line, he said.

The BMA now is in the process of hiring a consulting company to study the feasibilit­y of implementi­ng a project to build a new extension of the Green Line from Bang Wa to Taling Chan in the 2025 fiscal year, starting on Oct 1, he said.

At this point, the most likely form of investment will be a public-private partnershi­p (PPP) in which the BMA, however, will not be investing in from its own coffers.

The BMA has said it will instead give budgetary priority to “a number of other investment projects, such as building a new hospital and improving public utilities, education and quality of life,” he said.

The BMA has already proposed the transfer of the three electric rail projects to the government’s committee on land transport system management, which is normally chaired by a deputy prime minister, said a source.

If the committee approves the proposal, the projects will be automatica­lly transferre­d to the Mass Rapid Transit Authority which will later decide on which of the projects are to be implemente­d first, and when, said the source.

A study conducted by the BMA found the Silver and Grey lines will require 135 billion baht and 62.8 billion baht in funding respective­ly.