Bids for construction of the Phuket airport light rail link are expected to be called for late next year, according to a source at the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP).
The government had instructed the Transport Ministry to speedily study the framework of the project’s investment, which should be complete by the the first quarter of next year, the source told Naew Na newspaper.
Full details of the light rail link would then be proposed to the Commission for the Management of Road Traffic and then to the cabinet meeting in June. Bids would be called later next year.
Acting MRTA governor Rithika Suparat confirmed his agency is seeking a private consultant to help determine the most suitable investment mode under the public-private partnerships (PPP) law. The study could take about six months.
The project, he said, would comply with the government’s policy of supporting electric train projects in major provinces to combat traffic congestion.
To be built at an estimated cost of 39.4 billion baht, the project comes under the government’s PPP fast-track policy. The first phase of track construction will be from Phuket international airport to Chalong junction in Muang district.
It will include construction of six underpasses and an elevated platform at the airport, and could take about three years to complete, according to the source.
About 70,000 people were expected to use the service every day once it opens, the source said. Fares could be 15 to 25 baht a person per trip.
At least five trains would operate the service, with one arriving at a station every 5-10 minutes. Travel time between Chalong and the airport would be about 60 minutes, according to the report.
