Brown Line work could start in 2025

Study of long-delayed monorail expected to be ready for approval by late this year

The Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) is preparing to do a feasibility study for the Brown Line monorail, which would link Khae Rai in Nonthaburi with Lam Sali in east Bangkok.

The MRTA board approved the study for the 49.8-billion-baht public transit project last Thursday, said chairman Sarawut Songsivilai, who is also director-general of the Highways Department.

The results of the study are expected to be forwarded to the new government for approval in December. If it gets the green light, the MRTA would call bids for contractors and construction could start sometime in 2025, said Mr Sarawut.

The project would be carried out as a public-private partnership (PPP), he added.

The Brown Line has faced numerous delays, as it was planned around the same time as the third phase of the N2 motorway extension of the Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat), which will run through the same area as the planned monorail.

Construction on the N2 motorway is set to begin in early 2025, which is around the same time the MRTA aims to begin work in the monorail line.

Mr Sarawut offered asurances that the parallel construction projects would not cause too much traffic disruption.

He said the MRTA would come up with an investment plan for the entire project, as well as specifications for the monorail support structures, which Exat would be required to build ahead of the monorail’s construction.

Approval would also be subject to an environmental impact assessment (EIA). Mr Sarawut said the MRTA would submit the required information to the Office of Transport, Traffic Policy and Planning, which would then pass on the data to the EIA expert committee.