A BRAND new facility to help alleviate the commuting hassle the majority of people living in Bangkok face on a daily basis is opening up next month with this being a van station under the expressway on Kamphaeng Phet 2 road.
Transport Company Limited’s assistant manager Nattawut Onnom told reporters that the construction of phase 1 of this van station is currently 96% successful, having only the station’s front landscape and ticketing system remaining to be finished.
The construction contracting company is supposed to hand over the project to Transport Co tomorrow, May 28, and the company would expect to be able to launch the service for the public on the June 18.
Mr Nattawut added that the company was looking to provide short-range commuting vans for over 200 routes at the new station. Each building should be able to handle 120 passengers per hour traffic. That means in each day, over 4,500 trips or more than 20,000 passengers are to be handled by these vans.
Regarding the location for the vans station or terminal, areas under the expressway on Kamphaeng Phet 2 road on the opposite side of Bangkok Bus Terminal (Chatuchak) was allocated for the 7 buildings of phase 1.
There are 5 passenger buildings, 1 commercial building and 1 canteen building. In future Transport Co will expand to phase 2 and phase 3 which are designed to be backup space for additional vans and passengers expected to increase after Bang Sue Junction opens.
These future phases will help ensure better comfort for the passengers who commute via the public rail system and public vans.
CAPTION:
Top: People stream on to and off a train at Siam BTS station one Monday morning. Photo: Mark Fischer (CC-BY-SA-2.0)
In-text: Mr Nattawut talking to the press last week. Photo: Matichon
By Piboon Awasdaruharote