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The New Skytrain


WilliamCave

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Any update when the extension from Mo chit will begin? Late 2015 now?

On another forum (which we are not allowed to link to), the user Codename_B posted on Jan 21 2015

  1. BTS Light Green line north extension - Mo Chit - Saphan Mai - Ku Kot (18.4 km)
    • Construction in June
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  • 2 weeks later...

Between Kae Rai and Bang Bua Thong the new skytrain was finished, the road was finished as well and now i noticed they are breaking it up again?

Let me guess, they forgot to make a drain under the new concrete road? whistling.gif

This is going to cost a fortune and they do it very slow, piece by piece.

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Here near Bangyai they finally given the roads back to cars and my travel is quite fast again. I can't see how the BTS is ever going to take on cars / bikes and vans on this route now that the trouble they created themselves is gone. Only during the most busy part of the day could the BTS win.

But I am happy that the roads are better now again, only problem could be taxi's that will clog up the BTS stations and slow down normal travel for cars again once its running. But right now I am happy with all the roads returned to their original state before the BTS made a mess of it.

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Any update when the extension from Mo chit will begin? Late 2015 now?

On another forum (which we are not allowed to link to), the user Codename_B posted on Jan 21 2015

  1. BTS Light Green line north extension - Mo Chit - Saphan Mai - Ku Kot (18.4 km)
    • Construction in June

Codename is being hopeful but he could end up being right......the saga continues on this long delayed line (A reminder that it was originally planned to be completed by 2008!!!)

Contracts were due to be signed in April and work starting immediately thereafter. However, Cabinet has requested a renegotiating in the winning bid prices to reflect falling oil and commodity prices. We'll have to see how these progress first. Then let's see the contract signed second, before we can ask when construction will start ........

(Another reminder that the SRT Dark Red Line (under construction) contract dispute and tender renegotiation took 2 years to resolve before work started!)

Alos there are some politics contributing to the delay as the BMA wants to get this project back from the MRTA. That might end up meaning a whole new tender needs to be conducted.

558000001777401.JPEG

Edited by Lakegeneve
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Here near Bangyai they finally given the roads back to cars and my travel is quite fast again. I can't see how the BTS is ever going to take on cars / bikes and vans on this route now that the trouble they created themselves is gone. Only during the most busy part of the day could the BTS win.

But I am happy that the roads are better now again, only problem could be taxi's that will clog up the BTS stations and slow down normal travel for cars again once its running. But right now I am happy with all the roads returned to their original state before the BTS made a mess of it.

It is good to hear that you are happy again.

A couple of reminders. The Purple Line is not a BTS line. It is an MRTA line and the operator of the subway has won the concession to run the line. The mess as you put it, was made by contractors.

Eventually, it will have elevated and underground sections and intersect with 6 other metro lines. One needs to see the bigger, longer term picture. In years to come everyone living along this line will be very happy that they have the metro option.

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Thanks Lake Geneve, appreciate the info. I do hope they sort out the contract and begin construction on the Mo Chit extension soon, although after reading how they will have to tear down the flyovers at ratchoyothin and Kasetart I think the traffic in this area is going to be insane while they build it...hopefully it will go quick...

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Here near Bangyai they finally given the roads back to cars and my travel is quite fast again. I can't see how the BTS is ever going to take on cars / bikes and vans on this route now that the trouble they created themselves is gone. Only during the most busy part of the day could the BTS win.

But I am happy that the roads are better now again, only problem could be taxi's that will clog up the BTS stations and slow down normal travel for cars again once its running. But right now I am happy with all the roads returned to their original state before the BTS made a mess of it.

It is good to hear that you are happy again.

A couple of reminders. The Purple Line is not a BTS line. It is an MRTA line and the operator of the subway has won the concession to run the line. The mess as you put it, was made by contractors.

Eventually, it will have elevated and underground sections and intersect with 6 other metro lines. One needs to see the bigger, longer term picture. In years to come everyone living along this line will be very happy that they have the metro option.

Ignorant guy here.. what is the difference BTS / MRTA. Looks like it will be BTS kind of thing.

Mate I have lived in Holland and it arguably has great public transport, but from experience I know that not everyone likes it or sees it as an alternative. You are probably a public transport fanatic while I see things different, its great to have an option if that option is either cheaper or faster. I doubt it will be either. In my country they proved that more roads mean less traffic.. Before they were of your opinion better public transport.. but it never worked.. but more roads did do the trick.

You have great information and I respect that but not everyone will always agree with what your saying. If you ever looked around BTS / MRT stations you can see the traffic problems around there.

Edited by robblok
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Here near Bangyai they finally given the roads back to cars and my travel is quite fast again. I can't see how the BTS is ever going to take on cars / bikes and vans on this route now that the trouble they created themselves is gone. Only during the most busy part of the day could the BTS win.

But I am happy that the roads are better now again, only problem could be taxi's that will clog up the BTS stations and slow down normal travel for cars again once its running. But right now I am happy with all the roads returned to their original state before the BTS made a mess of it.

It is good to hear that you are happy again.

A couple of reminders. The Purple Line is not a BTS line. It is an MRTA line and the operator of the subway has won the concession to run the line. The mess as you put it, was made by contractors.

Eventually, it will have elevated and underground sections and intersect with 6 other metro lines. One needs to see the bigger, longer term picture. In years to come everyone living along this line will be very happy that they have the metro option.

Ignorant guy here.. what is the difference BTS / MRTA. Looks like it will be BTS kind of thing.

Mate I have lived in Holland and it arguably has great public transport, but from experience I know that not everyone likes it or sees it as an alternative. You are probably a public transport fanatic while I see things different, its great to have an option if that option is either cheaper or faster. I doubt it will be either. In my country they proved that more roads mean less traffic.. Before they were of your opinion better public transport.. but it never worked.. but more roads did do the trick.

You have great information and I respect that but not everyone will always agree with what your saying. If you ever looked around BTS / MRT stations you can see the traffic problems around there.

The BTS and the MRTA are two completely different metro systems. Different operators, different authorities involved.

Comparing Holland as a country to Bangkok is apples and oranges. One is a country, the other a city. It is not a logical comparison. Comparing Amsterdam to Bangkok would make much more sense. Amsterdam like most cities in Europe is still expanding its public transport network.

Fanatic?? Does that mean I get to assume that your an out dated road fanatic??? There is nothing fanatical regarding building more metros. It is good urban planning, promotes economic efficientcy and is obviously good for our living environment. Aside from that I have much self interest as I save a huge amount of time each week using metros in BKK.

The world wide trend for the last decade has been to invest in mass transit in cities as all major govt. transport studies have proved that building more roads in an urban environment only increase congestion in the long run. It ends up being a capacity and livability issue. There has been huge expansion of metros in asia in the last decade....I lived in both BKK and Hong Kong before they had metros. No one can imagine those cities without a metro now. Even in car dependent LA they realised the error of pulling up their suburban lines and have been expanding the light rail network.

The number of registered vehicles in BKK at the end of 2012 was almost 10% higher than it was at the end of 2011 and average speeds where 20% lower than in 2009. (DLT figures). Little wonder that most new condos in BKK are being built along current or planned metro lines and that property values along metro corridors have grown higher compared to those outside metro corridors. (The last valuer generals assessment of property prices a few years ago in the Rattanatibet/Ngam Wong Wan corridor calculated that the Purple Line added 1m baht to the value of a house in the corridor). The economics show the importance of a metro lines in a large city like BKK.

In your specific area, Rattanatibet rd has expanded from 2 to 4 lanes over the last couple of decades (esp when the new bridge span opened in 08) and still it is congested. You could add another lane but that will not change future congestion. You can blame metro construction now but in the future you'll only have traffic congestion to blame. People always complain about congestion during construction of anything. Were you around in the mid 00s when the 3 overpasses were being built along Chaeng Wattana and took 3 years to complete. Traffic was terrible during that time and everyone complained. A few years after they opened and congestion was worse with everyone still complaining about Chaeng Wattana rd most of the day.

I'm not wanting you to agree with me but the objective facts paint a clear picture. Some new roads are required in specific areas but more road building on its own is not the solution to congestion, more the problem. Due to poor planning BKK has very little corridors reserved for new roads. Metro lines offers an option for future connectivity for some that won't be silly enough to waste 2-3 hrs a day stuck in traffic to and from work. It is only logical and good economic sense to build mass transit in any city, more so in BKK.

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tl;dr : They are two different companies.

I'm just a layman, so I can try to give my non-technical answer. BTS and MRT are two different things and also two different companies. I assume you have used both systems? You can see that the trains are different, the ticketing system is different, the price structures are different, the stations are designed different, their logos are different, etc. Really the only thing they have in common is that they are mass transit trains in the Bangkok metro area. I understand how people might think they are the same though. Airport Rail Link is also different.

BTS (a.k.a. The Skytrain) is operated by the BMA (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration) so it causes even more problems when they wanted to extend the BTS past the city limits of Bangkok.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTS_Skytrain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MRT_%28Bangkok%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_Rail_Link_%28Bangkok%29

EDIT : Dang, I got beat

Edited by IsaanUSA
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tl;dr : They are two different companies.

I'm just a layman, so I can try to give my non-technical answer. BTS and MRT are two different things and also two different companies. I assume you have used both systems? You can see that the trains are different, the ticketing system is different, the price structures are different, the stations are designed different, their logos are different, etc. Really the only thing they have in common is that they are mass transit trains in the Bangkok metro area. I understand how people might think they are the same though. Airport Rail Link is also different.

BTS (a.k.a. The Skytrain) is operated by the BMA (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration) so it causes even more problems when they wanted to extend the BTS past the city limits of Bangkok.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTS_Skytrain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MRT_%28Bangkok%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_Rail_Link_%28Bangkok%29

EDIT : Dang, I got beat

This of course is one reason why these rail systems will never work as well as they would have if they were fully integrated, like in more or less any other major city on the globe. While I'm happy that they actually build public transport systems in Bangkok, It's way beyond astonishing that they don't seem to have learned a single thing from what have been done in other cities the last hundred or so years. In Bangkok there are:

- Different ticket systems

- Need to pay for a new ticket for each line, or use a separate card

- Different technical standards

- Different station names for the same station depending on which line one is travelling on

- Too short platforms, limiting the capacity of each line. Singapore, a city half the size of Bangkok, have platforms that are twice as long and trains that run the full length of those platforms.

The result of this is that the capacity of the system will be limited, the prices higher for the users and the time it takes to change between lines longer (just look at the queues at Asok during rush hours).

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Here near Bangyai they finally given the roads back to cars and my travel is quite fast again. I can't see how the BTS is ever going to take on cars / bikes and vans on this route now that the trouble they created themselves is gone. Only during the most busy part of the day could the BTS win.

But I am happy that the roads are better now again, only problem could be taxi's that will clog up the BTS stations and slow down normal travel for cars again once its running. But right now I am happy with all the roads returned to their original state before the BTS made a mess of it.

It is good to hear that you are happy again.

A couple of reminders. The Purple Line is not a BTS line. It is an MRTA line and the operator of the subway has won the concession to run the line. The mess as you put it, was made by contractors.

Eventually, it will have elevated and underground sections and intersect with 6 other metro lines. One needs to see the bigger, longer term picture. In years to come everyone living along this line will be very happy that they have the metro option.

Ignorant guy here.. what is the difference BTS / MRTA. Looks like it will be BTS kind of thing.

Mate I have lived in Holland and it arguably has great public transport, but from experience I know that not everyone likes it or sees it as an alternative. You are probably a public transport fanatic while I see things different, its great to have an option if that option is either cheaper or faster. I doubt it will be either. In my country they proved that more roads mean less traffic.. Before they were of your opinion better public transport.. but it never worked.. but more roads did do the trick.

You have great information and I respect that but not everyone will always agree with what your saying. If you ever looked around BTS / MRT stations you can see the traffic problems around there.

In your country, they have also proven that relying mostly on cars for transportation creates energy consumption and pollution so far beyond that of other countries that nobody will ever be able to compete. If the rest of the world managed to get "up" to the same standards, energy prices would soar to levels beyond our imaginations and pollution likewise.

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Here near Bangyai they finally given the roads back to cars and my travel is quite fast again. I can't see how the BTS is ever going to take on cars / bikes and vans on this route now that the trouble they created themselves is gone. Only during the most busy part of the day could the BTS win.

But I am happy that the roads are better now again, only problem could be taxi's that will clog up the BTS stations and slow down normal travel for cars again once its running. But right now I am happy with all the roads returned to their original state before the BTS made a mess of it.

It is good to hear that you are happy again.

A couple of reminders. The Purple Line is not a BTS line. It is an MRTA line and the operator of the subway has won the concession to run the line. The mess as you put it, was made by contractors.

Eventually, it will have elevated and underground sections and intersect with 6 other metro lines. One needs to see the bigger, longer term picture. In years to come everyone living along this line will be very happy that they have the metro option.

Ignorant guy here.. what is the difference BTS / MRTA. Looks like it will be BTS kind of thing.

Mate I have lived in Holland and it arguably has great public transport, but from experience I know that not everyone likes it or sees it as an alternative. You are probably a public transport fanatic while I see things different, its great to have an option if that option is either cheaper or faster. I doubt it will be either. In my country they proved that more roads mean less traffic.. Before they were of your opinion better public transport.. but it never worked.. but more roads did do the trick.

You have great information and I respect that but not everyone will always agree with what your saying. If you ever looked around BTS / MRT stations you can see the traffic problems around there.

The BTS and the MRTA are two completely different metro systems. Different operators, different authorities involved.

Comparing Holland as a country to Bangkok is apples and oranges. One is a country, the other a city. It is not a logical comparison. Comparing Amsterdam to Bangkok would make much more sense. Amsterdam like most cities in Europe is still expanding its public transport network.

Fanatic?? Does that mean I get to assume that your an out dated road fanatic??? There is nothing fanatical regarding building more metros. It is good urban planning, promotes economic efficientcy and is obviously good for our living environment. Aside from that I have much self interest as I save a huge amount of time each week using metros in BKK.

The world wide trend for the last decade has been to invest in mass transit in cities as all major govt. transport studies have proved that building more roads in an urban environment only increase congestion in the long run. It ends up being a capacity and livability issue. There has been huge expansion of metros in asia in the last decade....I lived in both BKK and Hong Kong before they had metros. No one can imagine those cities without a metro now. Even in car dependent LA they realised the error of pulling up their suburban lines and have been expanding the light rail network.

The number of registered vehicles in BKK at the end of 2012 was almost 10% higher than it was at the end of 2011 and average speeds where 20% lower than in 2009. (DLT figures). Little wonder that most new condos in BKK are being built along current or planned metro lines and that property values along metro corridors have grown higher compared to those outside metro corridors. (The last valuer generals assessment of property prices a few years ago in the Rattanatibet/Ngam Wong Wan corridor calculated that the Purple Line added 1m baht to the value of a house in the corridor). The economics show the importance of a metro lines in a large city like BKK.

In your specific area, Rattanatibet rd has expanded from 2 to 4 lanes over the last couple of decades (esp when the new bridge span opened in 08) and still it is congested. You could add another lane but that will not change future congestion. You can blame metro construction now but in the future you'll only have traffic congestion to blame. People always complain about congestion during construction of anything. Were you around in the mid 00s when the 3 overpasses were being built along Chaeng Wattana and took 3 years to complete. Traffic was terrible during that time and everyone complained. A few years after they opened and congestion was worse with everyone still complaining about Chaeng Wattana rd most of the day.

I'm not wanting you to agree with me but the objective facts paint a clear picture. Some new roads are required in specific areas but more road building on its own is not the solution to congestion, more the problem. Due to poor planning BKK has very little corridors reserved for new roads. Metro lines offers an option for future connectivity for some that won't be silly enough to waste 2-3 hrs a day stuck in traffic to and from work. It is only logical and good economic sense to build mass transit in any city, more so in BKK.

Look, we both have our views. In my country it has been proven after years of people like you telling us more roads were not the solution that more roads did lead to less congestion. Holland is a densely populated country its not like other countries. Its like everything is almost close together. More roads will always help only nature activists are against it and now they have lost. They told us to always invest in trains subways ect.. in the end it was more roads that helped. So saying its not true does not help them anymore.

Am I against buses / metros / trains.. no they are all needed but they are not the holey grail.. roads are too. If people could choose they would almost all wanted to sit in their car. That is the nature of humans. Calling you a fanatic is the same as calling me a fitness fanatic. Quite true and not a negative thing. i see the time you spend on your post.. i see the quality of the data. That you care about this shows in your posts and your knowledge shows too. That does not mean I have to agree with everything.

As long as I have been here (bit under 10 years) we have always had the same number of roads here. You are right about he bride that helped a lot. If they could (they cant) expand the flyover near the mall an other bottle neck would be gone. But again it would lead to problems elsewhere.

I just think that given the speed of the BTS the line is too slow to make people change their mind. Too many stops. I really hope it makes a difference but to be honest I doubt it. I would love to eat my words as it would only benefit me. I understand that there should be public transport.. but its a combination of roads and public transport that does it. In my country too long was public transport thought to be the solution. We found out it was not. That is why I am always a bit hesitant when people act like public transport will save the day.

You are right.. the planning here sucks.. too many buildings not enough roads. They have opened up many villages where i live but there is just a one lane road going to it. Every night i see people in long lines of cars waiting. They only think about selling houses and making new villages not spending money on roads to keep them accessible. That would mean of course buying up some houses and widening roads.

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Here near Bangyai they finally given the roads back to cars and my travel is quite fast again. I can't see how the BTS is ever going to take on cars / bikes and vans on this route now that the trouble they created themselves is gone. Only during the most busy part of the day could the BTS win.

But I am happy that the roads are better now again, only problem could be taxi's that will clog up the BTS stations and slow down normal travel for cars again once its running. But right now I am happy with all the roads returned to their original state before the BTS made a mess of it.

It is good to hear that you are happy again.

A couple of reminders. The Purple Line is not a BTS line. It is an MRTA line and the operator of the subway has won the concession to run the line. The mess as you put it, was made by contractors.

Eventually, it will have elevated and underground sections and intersect with 6 other metro lines. One needs to see the bigger, longer term picture. In years to come everyone living along this line will be very happy that they have the metro option.

Ignorant guy here.. what is the difference BTS / MRTA. Looks like it will be BTS kind of thing.

Mate I have lived in Holland and it arguably has great public transport, but from experience I know that not everyone likes it or sees it as an alternative. You are probably a public transport fanatic while I see things different, its great to have an option if that option is either cheaper or faster. I doubt it will be either. In my country they proved that more roads mean less traffic.. Before they were of your opinion better public transport.. but it never worked.. but more roads did do the trick.

You have great information and I respect that but not everyone will always agree with what your saying. If you ever looked around BTS / MRT stations you can see the traffic problems around there.

In your country, they have also proven that relying mostly on cars for transportation creates energy consumption and pollution so far beyond that of other countries that nobody will ever be able to compete. If the rest of the world managed to get "up" to the same standards, energy prices would soar to levels beyond our imaginations and pollution likewise.

Please show me some studies on that because my country has no such problems in fact nature has gotten bigger and cleaner in my country since the 70ies. As for energy consumption electricity has to be generated too. Unless we invent nuclear fusion electricity is still made by fossil fuels.

I can positively state that pollution is no longer a problem in my country compared to a time when far less cars were used. Our rivers got their fish back.. nature is more diverse and healthier as 30-40 years back. I can also state that far more cars are driven now as back then. Just remember cars are getting cleaner all the time. We got plenty of cars on electricity already.. this will only increase. But we need to discover nuclear fusion to really go green. Just changing a car from fossil fuels to electricity does not help much as now fossil fuels are still used to generate electricity.

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NIce.. just don't see the Netherlands there. Unexpected to see so much use of energy in Russia though. Thanks for the info.

Here's one with the Netherlands included:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Energy-consumption-per-capita-2003.png

I find it hard to believe actually especially after having seen more recent data where Netherlands is not as high as in your states.

http://www.eia.gov/countries/index.cfm?view=consumption

Its actually hard to find figures (not saying your wrong here just saying its hard to find clear figures) Though wiki does confirm it. I wonder what it encompasses I can see that if you got a lot of industry and road traffic (Netherlands is a country where all products get transported to other countries) You get higher ratings. Anyway we are OT and its not exactly clear what these figures mean.

Edited by robblok
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Any update on the Airport Link maintenance / new carriages? Seems to be better these days, not sure if some trains have come back online or if they're just using other methods to improve things (noticed a few empty trains coming down the line recently, for example, presumably to clear big backlogs at other stations).

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Any update when the extension from Mo chit will begin? Late 2015 now?

Construction contract was signed April 3. Work to begin in June.

Contracts were actually awarded earlier and then prices renegotiated for a few months.

We hope work starts in June but don't be surprised if it is delayed.

Edited by Lakegeneve
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  • 1 month later...

Copy/pasted from another web forum, SSC, that we are not allowed to link to. Credit given to Codename_B


Here's the updated time table for all the lines.

MRT Purple line - Bang Sue - Bang Yai - (23 km) - 99.35% - Operational in December 2015

MRT Blue line extension - Bang Sue - Tha Phra & Hua Lamphong - Bang Khae - (27 km) - 62.18% - Operational in April 2019

BTS Light Green line extension - Bearing - Samut Prakan - (12.8 km) - 54.95% - Operational in February 2018

BTS Light Green line extension - Mo Chit - Ku Kot - (18.4 km) - Construction 1st of June - Operational in February 2019

SRT Light Red line - Bang Sue - Tallin Chan - (15 km) - Operational in 2018

SRT Dark Red line - Bang Sue - Rangsit - (26 km) - 38.71% - Operational in 2018

SRT Red line - Bang Sue - Hua Mark & Bang Sue - Hua Lamphong - (25.5 km) - Preparing for cabinet approval - Operational in 2018

Airport Rail Link extension - Phaya Thai - Don Mueang - (21.8 km) - Preparing for cabinet approval - Operational in 2019

MRT Pink line Monorail - Kaerai - Minburi - (34.5 km) - Preparing for cabinet approval - Operational in 2020

MRT Yellow line Monorail - Lad Phrao - Samrong - (30.4 km) - Preparing for cabinet approval - Operational in 2020

MRT Orange line - Thai Cultural Center - Minburi & Phraram IX - Minburi - (38.5 km) - In the process of choosing the optimal route - Operational in 2020

MRT Purple line extension - Bang Sue - Rat Burana - (19.8 km) - Preparing for cabinet approval - Construction begins Sep 2016 - Operational in Sep 2020

BMA Grey line Monorail - Watcharapol - Thong Lo - (16.25 km) - Undergoing EIA, construction in Q4 2016 - Operational in 2019

SRT Dark Red line extension - Rangsit - Thammasat - (10 km) - Preparing for cabinet approval

MRT Blue line extension - Bang Khae - Phuttamonthon Sai 4 - Om Noi - (11 km) - Design study to be completed in August

BTS Dark Green line extension - Bang Wa - Tallin Chan - (19.8 km) - Design study to be completed this year

MRT Brown line extension - Kaerai - Lam Samli - (7 km) - Design study to be completed in August

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