BANGKOK, 12 July 2019 (NNT) – People who reside along the construction site of the Khae Rai – Minburi MRT Pink Train Line, have been asked by the Mass Rapid Transit Authority to avoid accessing the roadway from 10 at night to 4 the next morning, to allow for the installation of monorial beams, the first of which is being installed at Tiwanon station.

The Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) Deputy Governor Surachet Laophulsuk has shown members of the media the state of progress in construction of the MRT Pink Line monorial’s Khae Rai – Minburi section at Samakkhi intersection, Tiwanon road, Nonthaburi.

He said the construction is now 32.9 percent complete, with civil engineering 38.2 percent complete, and electricity systems installation 26.9 percent complete. The foundation for the track has all been completed, with guideway beams for the monorail system currently being installed by contractors, who have already put in place the first beam section at Tiwanon station, describing it as the first monorial beam ever installed in Thailand.

Each pre-cast guideway beam is 30 meters long and weighs 80 tons. The beams serve as tracks for monorail trains which travel along them. Installation of the beams requires transportation of each of them to their installation site, which affects road traffic. For safety, one lane in each traffic direction will be closed temporarily from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. daily, with officials taking care of public safety and traffic flow. The MRTA will also be communicating with villagers in the area helping them avoid travelling on the affected road.

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BANGKOK, 10 July 2019 (NNT) – Government investment remains the main factor in steering the economy as the trade war between the United States and China has affected exports, tourism and investment. This has led to the Siam Commercial Bank’s (SCB) Economic Intelligence Center (EIC) cutting its forecast for the country’s 2019 economic growth to 3.1 percent.

The EIC has revised downwards its Thai economic expectations in 2019 to 3.1 percent from 3.3 percent, largely as a result of the trade war between the United States and China which grew more severe in May as the United States increased its tariff on Chinese goods worth 200 billion US dollars from 10 percent to 25 percent, while China has responded by raising its tariffs on the United States’ products worth about 60 billion US dollars to 5-25 percent. This has caused the global economy to slow down exponentially and affect Thailand’s export sector. The EIC has slashed its export growth estimate for the full year to a 1.6 percent contraction from the 0.6 percent projected earlier. This also affects private sector investment which is likely to slow accordingly. Employment in the industrial sector will also be affected by shrinking exports. The EIC has also lowered its forecast for the number of foreign arrivals to 40.1 million this year, representing 4.8 percent growth, from 40.7 million projected earlier.

The Thai economy is still mainly directed by government spending especially intensive infrastructure investment which has caused the construction industry to grow by approximately seven percent, along with the benefits of economic stimulus measures in the past. But risk factors from the trade war and political uncertainty are still pressures. So the new government must accelerate the injection of about 20 billion baht to stimulate the economy at the end of the year to help the economy maintain expansion.

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BANGKOK, 07 July 2019 (NNT) – The Mass Rapid Transit Authority is set to open the MRT Blue Line Thaphra extension for passenger test runs in late July.

The Mass Rapid Transit Authority (MRTA) commenced internal test runs on the MRT Blue Line’s Hua Lamphong – Bangkae extension on 1st July this year. The early phase of the test is intended to ensure the preparedness of officials to cope with situations which may arise with train operations, to test the stability of the signalling and train control systems, and to set an appropriate train speed for safety.

Once the new tracks and trains have passed the initial testing stage, the MRTA is expected to allow passengers to travel between Hua Lamphong and Thaphra station free of charge as part of the test run in late July. More stations will incrementally be opened for free introductory trips, before the scheduled launching of the service in September this year.

During the trial, trains will run back and forth only on the new extension tracks, requiring passengers to change to another train at Hua Lamphong to travel to other stations on the current Blue Line Network. The extension will be linked to the original section, allowing for through operations, once signalling tests on the extension are completed.

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