A plan to expand the Mass Rapid Transit Authority’s (MRTA) Pink Line railway from Chaeng Watthana to Muang Thong Thani has met with a significant setback in the form of a stymied land swap deal.
Transport Minister Chadchat Sittipunt put the kibosh on the deal, which would have had the MRTA agreeing to extend the Pink Line to Bangkok Land Plc.’s Muang Thong Thani housing complex in exchange for a lot belonging to Bangkok Land. The MRTA had plans to use the acquired property for the construction of a train maintenance facility.
Chadchat said that the deal would set an untenable precedent, were the government to go through with it.
The Bangkok Post quoted him as saying, “The government is ready to let [Bangkok Land] connect to the electric railway, but the company must build its own extension to adjoin the main railway instead of having the government build the extension to its land… Otherwise, many [other] private parties would demand the government build electric railways to reach their housing estates and communities.”
According to MRTA governor Yongsit Rojsrikul, plans had originally called for the MRTA and Bangkok Land to develop the railway line together.
Once complete, the Pink Line will run from Khae Rai to Pak Kret and Min Buri. As of yet, no date has been set for its completion.
