The deep tunnel boring project will be the country’s second tunnel under the river.
The tunnel boring ceremony will be chaired by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha today.
MRTA board chairman Gen Yodyuth Boonyatikarn said the project is part of the expansion for the Blue Line mass transit project in Bangkok.
According to NNT, He said the prime minister will preside over the launching ceremony of the tunnel boring machine of the second tunnel under the Chao Phraya river as part of the phase 2 expansion of the MRT Blue Line from Sanam Chai to Tha Phra.
On the procurement of the service operator for the Green Line expansion, the MRTA is awaiting the official note from the cabinet meeting that has agreed to continue negotiations with the existing operator of the Blue Line, which is the Bangkok Metro Public Company Limited (BMCL), and use the public private partnership (PPP) net cost model for hiring workers.
The negotiation will include the extension of the BMCL service from Bang Sue station to Tao Poon station to provide a connection to the Purple Line, while the service of the Blue Line extension is expected to commence in 2017, said the MRTA chairman.
For the Mo Chit-Saphan Mai-Khu Khut Green Line extension, the bidding committee has succeeded in its negotiations to reduce costs in contracts with four construction companies by approximately 56 million baht.
The four contracts comprise of the civil work construction of a 12 kilometre section from Mo Chit to Saphan Mai with the new cost of 15.3 billion baht, reduced from 15.4 billion baht, the civil work construction of a 7.5 kilometre section from Saphan Mai to Khu Khut with the new cost of 6.66 billion baht from 6.74 billion baht, the construction of a depot and the park and ride facilities with the new cost at 4.02 billion baht from 4.08 billion baht, and the design and construction of the rail system at 2.84 billion baht from 2.87 billion baht.
The MRTA board will hold a meeting on 13 March for the approval of the new bidding outcome to be submitted to the Ministry of Transport and the cabinet. The signing of all four contracts is expected to take place within this month.
Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/second-under-river-tunnel-boring-starts-today
