New tram service may be launched in Bangkok

BANGKOK, June 23 (TNA) - The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is considering to launch a new tram service in Bangkok in the coming years, replacing an existing bus rapid transit (BRT) system. Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra told journalists on Thursday that BMA is conducting a feasibility study on the construction of the tram line, running between Phra Ram 3 area to Tha Phra area in the capital. The Bangkok governor announced that the existing BRT service on the 15.9-kilometre Chong Nonsi-Rajapruek route in the capital will stop operation after its contract expires in April 2017 due to a heavy loss, amounting about one billion baht. BMA has to reportedly provide an over 200 million baht-subsidy annually for an overall period of seven years to support the BRT operation. Meanwhile, Manit Tejapichok, a director of Krungthep Thanakom Co., Ltd., the contracted operator of the BRT system, told reporters that his company plans to replace the BRT with a tram system, using battery and solar energy, after the contract expires. The existing two-billion-baht-BRT system has been operated since mid-2010. (TNA)