Concerns and criticisms have arisen over the commercial development of spaces at Hua Lamphong Train Station in Bangkok, and a public forum is set to be held to collect people’s inputs about the potential operation of trains in inner Bangkok.
Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob has ordered the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) to open a public forum to take into account the views of people from all sectors, in order to address the concerns over the future of Hua Lamphong Train Station.
The railway authority has set up the SRT Asset company to manage all plots of land that it owned. According to the transport minister, the commercialization of spaces in the Hua Lamphong area over 30 years is expected to generate 800 billion baht. 5 billion baht is predicted to come about in the first year, and income will steadily rise to 10 billion baht within the 5th year. The amount of generated income will be enough to clear the SRT’s accumulated losses of 150-160 billion baht.
Mr. Saksayam said the realization of the problems in operating trains in Bangkok’s inner parts has been long realized, and this led to the development of Bang Sue Grand Station as the country’s railways center. He explained that with the completion of Bang Sue Grand Station, train operations will be adjusted to make the most use of the new transportation hub and to do away with road traffic disruptions caused by trains in inner Bangkok.
According to the minister, input gathered at the public forum will be used to yield solutions to the expressed concerns and to avoid impacts on locals who lived in the Hua Lamphong area. At the same time, the Ministry of Transport is working on ‘feeder’ transportation systems such as buses in order to increase transportation options for the public.
