The urban rail transit system of Bangkok is going through its biggest expansion since the BTS opened in 1999. Two commuter rail lines opened this year, two monorail lines are scheduled to open next year, and another new MRT line in 2023. This is an annual summary of lines under construction, news for established lines, […]
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Bangkok construction update – 2021 edition
This update is a snapshot of progress of major projects around Bangkok in December 2021. An ongoing list of projects can be found on the Future Bangkok page. This Bangkok construction update is part of the ongoing construction updates series for cities in Southeast Asia. One Bangkok Address: Wireless, Rama IV, Sathorn Road, Bangkok. One […]
Makkasan Train Factory Redevelopment
Makkasan Train Factory and railway yards is a 22.4-hectare plot of land in Ratchathewi district, central Bangkok. The land is next to the Makkasan Airport Rail Link and Makkasan Station. The land is owned by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), and there are plans to develop the land into a new urban area. There […]
Bangkok Grey Line Monorail
The Grey Line is a proposed monorail line in Bangkok by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA). The Grey Line would provide another north-south route connecting the northeast suburbs to central Bangkok. The first section that has been proposed is the 19-kilometre segment from Watcharapol to Thong Lor. This begins in the north at Watcharapol Station […]
Hua Lamphong Station – News and redevelopment plans for Bangkok Railway Station
Hua Lamphong Station (officially Bangkok Railway Station) is the main train station of Bangkok. After over 100 years of service, it’s set to be replaced by the new Bang Sue Grand Station. Hua Lamphong is scheduled to close in December 2021. The relocation of Bangkok’s central station was announced in 2015, where it was said […]
Comparison of cost and construction times of first metro lines in Asia
The first metro lines of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are under construction, and like most first lines of a metro system, they are delayed and over budget. Line 2A of the Hanoi Metro was originally planned to be operational by 2016, while the first metro line in Ho Chi Minh City had an […]
Bangkok – Chiang Mai High-Speed Railway
The Bangkok – Chiang Mai High-Speed Railway (also known as the Northern High-speed Railway) is a proposed high-speed railway that would be built alongside the current Northern Line in Thailand. Japan has proposed building the railway in partnership with Thailand, and the line would be a Shinkansen-like bullet train similar to that used in Japan. […]
Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City by rail on the Southern Economic Corridor Railway
The Southern Economic Corridor is a proposed transport route that would connect the port of Dawei in Myanmar to ports in Vietnam, via Thailand and Cambodia. This is an alternative route to the East-East Economic Corridor. [Map via anz.com.] The Southern Economic Corridor route goes from Dawei to Bangkok and then on to Aranyaprathet on […]
Bang Sue Grand Station – The largest railway station in Southeast Asia
Bang Sue Grand Station (Bang Sue Central Station in Thai) is the new central railway station of Bangkok. The station will be the terminus for all current long-distance rail services and future high-speed railways, and through-trains for the SRT commuter lines and 3-airport HSR line. Bang Sue will replace Hua Lamphong Station as the main […]
Bangkok’s Gold Line
After many years of waiting, Bangkok’s brand new Gold Line finally opened on December 16 2020, the newest addition to the city’s expanding family of electric train lines. By most estimations, Bangkok will boast around 450km of them by 2025 (subject to the shifting whims of Thai politics). Not bad for a city that, until […]
