Lakegeneve

1 hour ago, mackayae said:

I remember the old sky walk between the international and the domestic. It had to be at least 500 meters and it had aircon but no travelators.

Yes, that was always a long hike! It is still there and once the old domestic is refurbished finally to become T3 then this walkway will be in use again.

Worth remembering that the AOT has a plan to install an APM between all terminals as well that may also eventually provide a future link with the BTS extension on Phahonyothin rd.

5 hours ago, marin said:

Living out in the area there is one huge silly problem. Where the station is does not connect to either Terminal 2 international or the domestic terminal. It is opposite the car park located at the south end of Terminal 2. To get to T1 is going to be a decent walk.  Its really not believable they built it where they did. a kilometer from the Amari airport as well.

There's a half built overpass connection being built right now that will link from the north end of the station to the south end of T2 via the car park with the walkway that is the subject of this article. The article is really only referring to the section that is the responsibility of the AOT.

The DMK station was built there as is couldn't be built at the existing DM rail station area as there was not enough space. Be prepared for the new HSR station to also be built adjacent to this DMK station!

4 hours ago, YT3k72Em said:

It's a pity there is not a station between G1 and G2 on the Gold line. Without one, it's mostly useless to all the green condos in the area on the map above.

 

It's as if they just want it to feed the mall and not really be used as public transport.

Exactly, it is not a PT based project....just a feeder for shoppers.

For your first sentence, this is what I alluded to in may last line. The original plan for the BTS extension to WWY was to have 3 stations, the 1st located immediately west of Charoen Nakhon for easy access and cross river trips, the next half way along Ratchapruek rd and the WWY station immediately above Taksin rd for ease of interchange both with the future Purple line but also the SRT WWY station. The final plan to save money culled the first station and the other 2 were adjusted accordingly.

Thus, the Gold Line has to do a 600m leg to Krung Thong Buri station when it could have just terminated at Ratchapruek & Charoen Nakhon to interchange with a BTS station there and also provide easy access to the river pier. This would have also meant an easy future south extension along Charoen Nakhon to Rama 3 bridge/Ratchadapisek rd as other parts of the river on the Thonburi side are redeveloped.

3 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

You could try comparing it with Delhi Metro which is largely elevated and rather younger than the BTS.

 

I've said before Crossy that the Delhi model is what other asian cities should have followed. They have done an amazing job of having no metro at the turn of the century to a large, well run network in less than 20 years with progressive expansion. Compare that to Mumbai, Bangkok, Manila, HCM etc.....

16 minutes ago, berybert said:

 While it makes no sense to you it seems to have made sense to every other poster who has read the post and made no note of it. 

Congratulations on nothing. 

Au contraire, your post makes no sense. Indeed, your response is rather non nonsensical given my later suggested description of what happened.

I never said that the OP made no sense to me. I just made what patently seems to be an ironic point of one complaining about apparently not receiving clear information, and yet not conveying clearly what happened. And this after, making the pertinent point that these 'announcement' issues are world wide and for non Thai speakers on the BTS they are lucky to receive dual language announcements which often doesn't occur in many other cities.

People complain about all sorts of normal events just because they have different expectations when the reality is the system in the main works very well - even with the overcrowding which really is not as bad as many other cities as others have pointed out.

If you don't speak Thai, I think that pax in BKK are lucky to have English announcements - no matter how vague. There are plenty of cities mass transit systems in the world that don't offer english announcements for non native speakers. Also, there are daily examples in ones own city where similar announcements are also made. Imagine how it is for not Thai and Non english speakers!

I also think it is a little ironic in the context of the OPs issue that this description makes no sense; "On arrival at Ari we changed to the other side of the rails and people were getting off on the wrong side of the platform. On the side we should have gotten off from was a broken down train."

A train cannot change "to the other side of the rails" and people cannot get "off on the wrong side" of a single sided platform (unless jumping off the station in some mass injury attempt!). A train can however switched to another track and people can alight at the opposite platform......

11 minutes ago, sjaak327 said:

Yep, and just today they have put the expansion of BKK airport on hold, it's is a downright scandal they are doing this. It has nothing to do with passenger convenience. Utapao is to small and to far out to be a regional aviation hub. They should expand BKK, as that is long overdue, and as far as I'm concerned they need to expand it in such a way, so they can close DMK. One of the worst airports in Asia. But of course, the army has a big pie of both DMK and Utapao, so that's also the reason for this line, and some people actually fall for it. 

It is absurd to suggest that DMK should be closed given the growth of pax numbers in the last 10 years.

It was the decision of the Yingluck govt to move most LCCs there in March 2012! Most big cities like BKK have 2 airports and BKK is served well by 2 airports in different areas. (Look at London and Paris with 3 airports) The main issued with DMK has been connectivity due to the much delayed SRT Dark Red line and SRTET ARL extension. Even when Swampy finally has T2 and T3, DMK will still be needed. (There is even some discussion about building a 3rd airport out Nakhon Pathom way) AOT plans to open the old domestic terminal at DMK and build an APM between terminals.

17 minutes ago, sjaak327 said:

And the same company is going to exploit this line is it not ? Not a prospect that holds much confidence. The SRT is a company that still has to prove it can do something right. And let's get something right here, the reason the express line was scrapped intially was maintenance problems. 

 

Now, as to the planned stations, it will have some ridership in Bangkok, but not overly so. Of course more stops will make the trip longer, it also provides people with opportuneties to actually get on/off near where they are planning to go to ! Look at the proposed station list, we have 4 stops in the bangkok area, and just four more on the rest of the line, that comprises of 90% of it's distance. Not sure why you are so sure the ridership will be high on that part of the journey. Do you really believe that people that make 9000 baht a month, are overly concerned about a commute taking a little bit longer ? Or are you really believing many tourist will take the line ? I very much doubt it will be the case. Again, door to door travel is what tourists want. 

 

Just today it was made apparent that the BKK airport expansion plans have been put on hold, it's no conincidence this line goes all the way to U-Tapao, a two bit little airport that will now see expansion at the expense of the airport where such expansion is really needed. No wonder this project is being pushed through during the Junta, and that's where I will leave this. 

The SRT is not a company and it is not running the new line. It is a private consortium that will build and operate this line for 50 years, they have crunched the numbers and done their due diligence.

And the Express was scrapped, due to poor pax (as I said only a couple hundred a day) - please go and read the news reports at the time. The maintenance issues (actually a lack of spare parts) only reduced the number of services (they cut the Phaya Thai express in April and then finally stopped the Express in Sept 2014 when it was down to around 150 pax a day!!!).

You keep saying that the ARL failed in your view, and yet it has too many pax! Perhaps, try to look at the ARl as similar to the Piccadilly line to Heathrow. It is no suitable for your needs as neither is the Tube for some at Heathrow who either use the Express or take a taxi. You are complaining about your one bad ride and yet every day thousands of people use it to/from the airport so it works for them. Will it be suitable for all trips all the time, of course not. I take a taxi 30% of the time and the ARL the rest. Yet, every day over 75k people use the ARL. What you want is a dedicated Express Service which this project will actually give you.

The 4 stops in the BKK area include 2 airports and a 3rd is the new huge Bang Sue intercity terminal. All of those are transport hubs and patently required. For the section from BKK to Chonburi province, I don't know why you are focusing on factory workers who in any event live adjacent to their factory. Every day, there are hundreds of buses and vans trips between Bkk and Chonburi. Are they all going to move to a HSR line, of course not. But many will given the time savings. (There is a reason Korat and Pattaya bus companies have been opposing the HSR lines).

Lastly, the whole Navy owned U-Tapao airport issue and related vested interest promotion by the junta  is minor in my view. The airport capacity has been expanded from 800k to 3m pax. The Phase 3 expansion will see that grow to 15m capacity by 2022 if on time. The idea is that U-Tapao will relieve Swampy to an extent given that successive govts have delayed T2 & T3 . It is optimistic that U-Tapao will grow that much (along with the maintenance hub proposal), but as we have seen with all Thai Airports, pax keep growing. However, the last section of the HSR line between Pattaya and U-Tapao is neither here nor there in making this line work. 

The Junta stuffed up most major transport projects for the first 3 years by delaying everything, metros lines, new highways, airport expansion, SRT track duplication, these HSR lines. They had no coordinated approach and in typical military fashion don't understand how these processes work. Remember, the Eastern HSR line and ARL extension was going to happened under that previous 2 govts, but as I previously explained the current and previous govt both delayed these two projects with much prolonged reviews. (Had the Dems been elected in 2011, we'd already be using the Eastern HSR line to Rayong - no U-tapao - for the last couple of years).

19 hours ago, sjaak327 said:

In that case, it isn't really a high speed line, and it shouldn't be advertised as such. The reason why the ARL is oversubscribed is because it's main usage is the people travelling from Lat Krabang and beyond to the city center. The express line of the ARL has vanished. It was stopped about three-four years ago. The only way for this link to be viable is when it stops at as much places as possible.

You are still misunderstanding the ARL and thinking of it solely as a dedicated Airport line. The ARL was built as a commuter line which terminated at the new airport. As a commuter line is is built for eventual 10 car operations which was envisaged to commence by 2028 once the ARL was extended to DMK. The line is built for 120km operations.

It also had an ill conceived Express service which as you rightly pointed out ceased services in Sept 2014. This was due to the fact that it was only getting a couple hundred of pax a day as there was not real time advantage between 26 mins and 15 mins. Also, the location of the CAT at Makkasan was built both with the expectation that the huge Makkasan railyard redevelopment would created a mini city at Makkasan by 2020, and also that the CAT would be used as a main station for a future Eastern HSR line terminus thought to be operational by 2015. (Note the Makkasan rail yard redevelopment is currently on it's 5th master plan since 2000). Thus, the CAT unlike Hong Kong Station or Sentral in KL is not located in a central, well connected location and because both the Eastern HSR and Makkasan redevelopment have been significantly delayed. (The future MRT Light Blue is also planned to run via Makkasan station).

A note here on pax growth, the ARL has 9 trains (5 Cityline and 4 Express). By 2012 pax numbers were growing greatly, so the SRT in mid 2013 approved the purchase of 7 new 5 car trains which had the order been placed promptly would have dealt with the large pax increases ("oversubscribed" as you term it) as the new rolling stock would have arrived by the end of 2015. However, the SRT being the SRT didn't try to tender until 2015 and then that tender was cancelled due to corruption allegations. Again, they tried in late 2016 but had a similar problem. (During this time pax had grown from 45k a day in 2013 to over 70k a day). In BKK with every metro or commuter line there has been overcrowding as the operators are always 2-3 years behind pax growth - as highlighted by the MRT Blue Line and the BTS in general.

(Another note is that the SRT has a stupid plan to completely duplicate most of the ARL with an extended SRT light Red line, but that is a whole other universe of explanation).

Again, the long planned Eastern HSR line had been merged with the long planned ARL extension to DMK. There is no doubt that demand for the extended ARL is there as many pax want an easy link into the central areas. There is also no doubt that the Eastern HSR will have large pax numbers once operational - most going to/from Chonburi. That both projects have been merged into one project has advantages and while U-Tapao won't have a large amount of pax (airport has 3m annual pax) the airport will grow in future decades. 

Lastly, you are completely incorrect with your last line. The less stops makes this project more viable for a HSR line. More stops means the service takes longer and loses the time advantage. At this stage, 8 stations are planned : DMK, Bang Sue, Makkasan, BKK Airport, Chonburi, Si Racha, Pattaya & U-Tapao (plus future ext to Rayong). 

I'll just add a basic overview.

The state of the Thai rail system is appalling as basically from the late 60s to early 2010s no money was invested in upgrading and expanding the system. During this period, the priority was all about new highways and expressways - hardly unique in the world. Thus the dilapidated Thai rail had an average running speed just under 50kmh and most of the national network was single track leading to significant delays. Some track, like the Nam Tok line was so bad that there were derailments on a weekly basis! That's essentially 50 years where the network was run down into the ground.

The Transport Ministry had proposed in the early 00s to invest significant amounts to modernise the network by duplicating all lines and doing electrification and standardisation. In the mid 00s the previous Eastern HSR line proposal from the 90s was dusted off with a view to planning a national network. Only when the Dems assumed power did most of the projects start to see policy support in 2009 and funds allocated in 2010. The problem as we all know in Thai politics in that long term planning is rare and govts change as much as the seasons do. Thus, the majority of the 'double tracking' as it is called, new rolling stock and HSR lines were only able to be budgeted for for in the last few years after the junta took some time to review their priorities. 

In around 20 years give or take, all of the current metre gauge lines will be duplicated along with some new lines - Chiang Rai, Mukdahan etc.

There will also be 4 HSR lines of various length to Rayong, Nong Khai, South via HH and north to Chiang Mai. 

None of this is to say that the decision making, planning and implementation has been, and will be, smooth and efficient, indeed far from it!

3 hours ago, sjaak327 said:

Personally I can see the use of a link between DMK and BKK. Even though the more smarter move would have been to close DMK altogether and expand BKK. But linking BKK to Pattaya ? Ludicrous, it will never be viable. Let's not forget that the ARL between BKK and Payathai is hardly the success it was planned to be, and is for over 80% used by commuters that never boarded or deboarded at BKK. In other words, it is a airport rail link in name only.

A couple of points are worth noting.

1) The SRTET ARL was always intended to be extended from Phaya Thai via the new Bang Sue terminal to DMK. That was always the plan from the start and indeed the previous govt was going to tender the project in 2014 prior to the junta taking power.

Also, the ARL is primarily a commuter line that runs to an airport, it has been very successful as a commuter line- the main problem initially was the Express service was ill concieved given that it didn't run from a city center (such as HK does) and thereafter that as overcrowding became an issue the SRT is so hopeless that they haven't been able to purchase new rolling stock even though a budget was approved in mid 2013 for 7 new 5 car trains!!! (Note: 2 tenders were cancelled due to corruption allegations).

2) The Eastern High Speed line (HSR) was first proposed in the mid 90s. When the Dems were in power the Transport Ministry in 2009 came up with the current 4 planned HSR lines with the Eastern being the first. In the 2011 election the Dems promised that they would start construction the following year in 2012 (that wouldn't have happend but 2013 was realistic). However, the Dems lost the election.

3) Subsequently, the new PT govt reviewed all HSR line planes but ended up affirming the same plans - they took 2 years to do this! After the coup, the junta govt did their own review and basically affirmed the same 4 lines except that they proposed a change in merging the Eastern HSR line and ARL extension to DMK and instead of running the line direct to Rayong, they would run it via the now expanded Uta-pao airport which the Navy wants to monetise and which the govt wants to further expand given the delays in building T2 & approving T3 at Swampy.

(The NE HSR line Phase 1 to Korat will be tendered in the 2nd half of 2019)

It is important to note that this line is essentially an extended Eastern HSR line to Utapao which will take over the an extended ARL to DMK with new rolling stock and new track (The ARL will need to be shut down at some point to replace the track as the track is substandard Chinese steel which requires significant grinding). The main delay with this project is that successive govt changes and subsequent reviews have delayed both projects. Then line will be hugely successful one it opens as the pax demand from DMK to the city is large and there are currently a large amount of vans and buses daily running between BKK and Chonburi. As the poster post points out it is also about the Eastern Seaboard.

Come back a couple of years after it opens and say "it will never be viable". Gov Samak said the same of the BTS in the first 12 months when pax numbers were much, much smaller than projected. The same has also been said of the MRT Blue Line and the ARL in the early years as pax numbers always take time to build up. What the evidence has shown in BKK and worldwide is that regular and fast mass transit always attracts pax . This will be a no brainer once people can get from Bang Sue/Makksan to Chonburi/Pattaya in 1 hr.

On 6/19/2019 at 8:58 AM, dantilley said:

Do you know of any updates on the Airport Link @Lakegeneve? Specifically:

 

1. Converting the 4th carriages of the old express trains to allow pax to use them (still not done, believe it or not!)
2. Trains under maintenance coming back into service - I think this may have happened now, to some trains at least, as they increased the frequency slightly in April?
3. Ordering more trains, ideally 4-carriage trains.
4. Extension up to DMK airport.

Thanks for your great and informative posts as always! ????

 

Quote

 

ARL update: (posted 6/5/2018)

The Eastern HSR tender is out and the expectation is that a winning bid will be awarded by July/August with work commencing by the end of the year ....if all goes smoothly - which it never does! http://www.railway.co.th/download/2561/Invitation-to-Tender-HSR3Airports.pdf

 

The Transport Ministry has decided that whoever wins the bid to build and run the Eastern HSR will also take over operating the ARL. The SRTET will be abolished and a new SRT entity will be established to manage the 4 planned HSR lines.

 

I now estimate that any new rolling stock for the ARL will not be available until 2022 at the earliest unless the previously mentioned leasing plan come to fruition - knowing the SRT it probably won't.

 

There is really not much to add to what I posted (below) when you last asked the same queries back in mid Nov 2018;

MRT Brown line (Monorail) Update

The MRTA Board officially approved the investment plan for the MRT Brown line last week.

Unfortunately, this is another line which should be heavy rail metro but which will be a light rail as a monorail. (Same goes for Pink and Yellow lines - both originally planned as heavy rail metros but changed to mono rail after lobbying by monorail builders and ostensibly for budget saving measures). Long terms problems will be the consequence for all these lines.....

As the N2 Expressway project and MRT Brown Line are undergoing an integrated design process - a first for Bangkok - most of the detailed design will be done by EXAT.

Design is expected to be finalised by end of 2019 with a tender by mid next year. If construction starts in late 2020 or early 2021 it is planned to be completed by 2025. Currently plan is 20 stations for the 22.3 km line but the previous plans had 22/23 stations. The probably will need to add a couple more.

This video provides a good overview of the route;

If you are wondering what the pillars are in the middle of Kaset-Namawin rd section, they were built for the N2 expressway which was originally planned to be built around 10 years ago.

On 6/7/2019 at 6:56 PM, CLW said:

Any information about opening of the SRT dark red line?

October 2020 is the current date (it was previously 1st quarter 2021). However, that depends on two external factors; delivery of the rolling stock which the SRT ordered late and completion of the new Bang Sue Terminal.

When construction finally commenced in mid 2013 after a 2.5 yr contractual delay, it was said that it would be open by late 2016. The delay is huge in that context. Not to forget that the 15km SRT Light Red line was built from in less than 3 yrs (Jan 2010 to Sept 2012). 

The 10km ext from Rangsit to Thammasat Uni was approved in 2017 and was due to be tendered late last year so hopefully this will be done in the post election period. The 11km 1st part of the southern ext from Bang Sue to Hua lumphong was approved a few years ago. However, this will have to wait while the designs for the Eastern HSR line was finalised as the first section will be from DMK to Phaya Thai to link with the ARL. 

The whole SRT Dark Red line will eventually be some 87kms long when completed some time next century!

1 hour ago, lamyai3 said:

Paknam makes for a pleasant little excursion, but one thing really baffled me about the place is the inordinate number of barber and hairdresser shops there. Must have seen more than 20 around the streets there. 

As the local saying goes, "Samut Prakan province is a cut above the rest!"

On 5/2/2019 at 2:36 PM, burner2014 said:

Does anyone know when this light green one is built or planned to be built?

When the BTS ext from On Nut to Bearing opened in August 2011 (2 years late due to a BMA official being scared to issue the S&E tender), provision was made for a spur line to run down Bang Na-Trat rd to the airport. You'll see the viaduct widen after Udom Suk and a little before the intersection - actually right at suk soi 103/4 where the huge block of land is for the future "largest shopping center in asia" and just adjacent where the new Eastern Bus terminal will be located.

This spur line was never part of the original BTS expansion plans nor the original M-Map Master plan, but was added as an idea by the BMA around 2006/7 to cater for the future T3 at the airport and provide an alternate route for the then yet to be built ARL. M-Map has since been updated in 2017, but still does not include this line.

Subsequently, Samak Prakan City Hall proposed to OTP in MOT that it be a light rail line. However, they also had the idea 3 years ago to build a LRL providing a link from City Hall up Srinakarin rd to Bang NaTrat then east so they need to resolve these two ideas. Currently, we need a bunch of lines and exts (Purple South, Blue west, Orange west, Brown line, BTS Silom west est) to progress to tendering before this line is resolved.

Someone asked me a few years in the previous thread when this will be built. At the time, I suggest not until after 2023-2025 at the earliest but now the latter date is more plausible. The delays with construction of T2 and with T3 not even being approved also delay this line as it will essentially run to T3 and the APM that will be built linking the terminals. That's not to say a line along the Bang Na - Trat corridor is not currently needed, only that there are other pieces of the network that need to be in place first.

6 hours ago, NoMeAmes said:

I agree with the notion that the fares are too high for the Thai salaries. The 1 Baht discount per ride when using a rabbit card is too little. You can purchase 15 trips to use for 1 month, where each trip would cost you 30 Baht. This is good for office workers who travel daily and their regular fares would otherwise be over 30 Baht. However, this doesn't include the 15 Baht "extra" fare from Bang Chak and further down the Sukhumvit line. I personally find this "extra fee" ridiculous. Now you can travel from on nut to kheha for only 15 Baht. That's what.... 6 or 7 stations? What's the point? I understand the point of the extra fee when bang chak-bearing was a new extension.... Now, so many people are getting on and off from those stations, that I feel like it is an integrated part of the BTS system, so should be fared just as the rest of the line, not as "extra". 

The new extension to Kheha whilst built with MRTA funds is now owned by the BMA (as every extension is) after the MRTA forced them to take on the debt of construction. (Other BTS exts were funded fully by the BMA from the outset). The BMA has granted the concession to BTSC to operates the 2 BTS lines. Thus, for the new extension the BMA has further contracted the BTSC to operate the extension with a free trial period/flat fare. They did the same for the 3 previous extensions which have opened on the BTS lines (including when On Nut ext to Bearing opened 2.5 yrs late!).

It's the BMA decision, it's their extension and they see an initial free period/flat fare as good PR. Also, given that this line was originally scheduled to open in late 2016 one could see this as compensation to pax for the late opening.

It is worth remembering that at one point 3 years ago there was a discussion that if the concession for the Bearing to Kheha ext was granted to another operator then that operator would have to purchase their own trains and the crazy option was canvassed that pax would have to change at Bearing from BTSC trains to the other operators trains continue onwards to Kheha. (More likely they would have granted rights for the BTSC trains to continue on the extension and paid the BTSC a fee while collecting shared revenue).

It highlights that although the flawed private concessionaire model is meant to promote competition and cheaper pricing it actually achieves the opposite as incumbent operators have an advantage as we have seen with both BTSC and BEM - formerly BMCL - being granted contracts to operate all new exts/lines. Famously, the BEM was given the MRT Blue line ext operator contract without a bid. Under the Bangkok metro model, there is no compulsion for private concessionaire companies to integrate services with other operators, adopt a common ticketing platform nor purchase sufficient rolling stock (usually delayed due to debt issues). A single, integrated, muti-mode, govt operator could do all if the correct operational framework was in place.

On 7 December 2018 at 12:33 PM, Darkside Gray said:

Why give away a free trial. surely everyone has used the system and is suitably aware of it.

Every BTS has had a free trial period after it has opened (except of the last 2 stations for when the Bang Wah ext opened in stages). The BMA has offered this as 'compensation' due to the fact that every extension has opened between 1-2 years late! 

(WWY ext opened 18 months late, Bearing ext opened over 2 years late etc)

Remember, this extension was originally due to open in Dec 2016.

(Not that the BTSC would have extra trains for it by then as they placed the order way too late - hence why only 3 new sets of rolling stock - out of 22 - have arrived in time for the opening. Which is why you have a seperate shuttle service on a 10 min frequency)

On 6 December 2018 at 6:55 PM, eggers said:

No matter what positive steps Prayut's Gov't takes, there's always Naysayers!!

BTS system is a great system compared to many others around world...punctual, v clean & cheap!! 

Your statement actually displays a high level of ignorance.

This extension started work in April 2012 under the previous govt. It was actually originally due to open in late 2016. It has nothing to do with the Prayut govt except for the further delay in opening while the MRTA which funded the extension negotiated with the BMA forcing them to take on the ownership of the ext and and service the debt.

Indeed, the current govt delayed the tenders of 5 new metro lines for 2 years after they took power while they reviewed all projects. The MRT Orange line (construction started mid 2017), MRT Pink line (Dec 2017) & MRT Yellow line (March 2018) were all planned start in 2014. Add to that further delays with the ARL ext (now new Eastern HSR line), SRT Red lines, Purple line ext, Orange line ext and well you see that there has been a significant backlog of projects in recent years. The last 2 were actually due to be tendered by the end of 2017 but have been further delayed until 2019 as the govt changed policy and made them PPP projects.

The coup in May 2014 led to a clear 2+ year delays with all metro and rail projects such that most were only approved in 2017 and 2018. Every new govt deserves some time to review infrastructure projects but the all these metro lines have all been part of the same OTP & MOT plan since 2005. Each govt since then has followed the same plan but every change of govt has resulted in delays in advancing specific projects - indeed the previous govt wasted a good 18 months after being elected in 2011 while conducting its own review. This govt had a longer delay as they took longer to review all metro projects and were initially prioritising other transport (mainly road) projects before belatedly advancing mass transit projects.