Amorn Kijchawengkul told reporters that now the project had passed the public hearing it needed to receive final approval from parliament. He noted that the cabinet endorsement should be issued within the next six months.
The assistant-governor continued by saying most Bangkokians supported the monorail construction as they believed it would alleviate the woes of cross-city travel. The project blueprint shows the system will have 39 stations along its length.
Once the cabinet has given the okay, Mr Kijchawengkul explained that the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) would need to find investors. He finished off by saying the BMA would likely use its own affiliate, Krungthep Thanakom, so that it had a say in the operations and fare structures of the monorail.
Assuming there are no red-tape or construction delays, the Bangkok monorail should launch in 2019. Initial predictions indicate passenger numbers during the first two years of operations will be 128,000 a day.
The single-track monorail will provide a fitting complement to Bangkok’s Skytrain network. The Skytrain opened in 1999 and is an elevated system operating on traditional twin-rail tracks.
40km Bangkok monorail gets green light
News in Asia
A public hearing into the impact of constructing a monorail line linking north and south Bangkok has endorsed the project. A Bangkok assistant-governor says the 40km-long track will link Ram Indra Road and the Tha Phra Junction.