A second tunnel to run under the Chao Phraya gets underway today with a ceremony to mark the beginning of digging.
The digging will clear the way for the MRT subway system’s Blue Line extension from Sanam Chai near Wat Po in the Phra Nakhon district to the Thonburi side and continuing southwest to Tha Phra in the Bangkok Yai district.
The entire blue line underground project is still expected to be completed by 2017. It will connect the existing line from Bang Sue to Hualamphong to the west and south through Chinatown and across the river into Thonburi.
Construction of the Wat Mongkorn and Wang Burapha stations are nearly complete, and eight more will be erected on the Thonburi side of the river, from Itsaraphap to Lak Song.
Completion of the line is expected to carry another 300,000 passengers daily from Thonburi alone. The blue line extension is expected to result in significant traffic reduction in the Thonburi area.
Photo: NNT
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