Bidding for railway lines 'in 6 months'
Sansern Wongcha-um, the deputy transport minister, said yesterday that the first round of bidding for construction of the five mass-transit rail lines for Bangkok was expected to be held within the next six months.
Sansern said the Surayud government's plan to hold new public hearings would not further delay the projects because the hearings and preparation for the bidding would take place simultaneously. "The previous government announced that a total of seven lines would receive investment, but we think only five of these are feasible so we need to hold new public hearings to take into account people's opinions," said Sansern in a weekly telecast on Channel 11. The Surayud government approved the five mass-transit lines soon after taking power. These routes are the Blue Line (Bang Sue-Tha Phra-Bang Khae and Hua Lamphong-Tha Phra, 27 kilometres long costing Bt52 billion), the Red Line (Rangsit-Bang Sue-Taling Chan, 41km, Bt53 billion), the Purple Line (Bang Yai-Bang Sue, 23km, Bt29 billion), the Dark Green Line (Mo Chit-Saphan Mai, 13 km, Bt17 billion) and the Light Green Line (Sukhumvit Soi 107-Samut Prakan, 14 km, Bt19 billion). According to Sansern, implementation of the Red Line is likely to proceed quickly due to its state of readiness.
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