The Northern Bus Terminal at Mor Chit will remain in use but will be reduced in size, Transport Company acting general manager Pol Gen Amnart An-artngam announced on Tuesday.
The State Railway of Thailand (SRT), which owns the area, had agreed in principle to allow the company to continue to use the land, but the terminal will be reduced in size from 75 rai to 50, Pol Gen Amnart An-artngam said.
He was speaking after a meeting with SRT governor Wuthichart Kallayanamitr.
The Transport Company, a state enterprise which operates interprovincial bus services throughout the country, was to due to move off the SRT land at Mor Chit by 2019. Under the plan, the SRT would provide 16.7 rai of land and the Transport Company would build a new five-storey bus terminal at a cost of 1.5 billion baht.
However, since Deputy Transport Minister Omsin Chivapruck's policy is for the Northern Bus Terminal to stay at the old location, the plan was being revised, Pol Gen Amnart said. The terminal would remain in operation at the same location, but its area would be reduced to 50 rai. The other 25 rai would be returned to the SRT.
The new terminal building may be reduced to only two floors, and the budget may be trimmed by one-third.
"I am confident this is the best way out. The present terminal handles about 150,000 passengers per day. It has to also accommodate interprovicial passenger vans, which have been moved from Victory Monument, which means an additional 50,000 passengers per day," he added.
Pol Gen Amnart said the Transport Company would reserve the right to use a 40,000 square metre block of land opposite the Chatuchak Park as a dispatch area for passenger vans.
The 25 rai would be returned to the SRT by 2019. The SRT would use the land to build transport centre for the region.
The Transport Company would this week consult with its consultant, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, on the revision of the plan, he said.
Mr Wuthichart, the SRT governor, said the agreement reached today would be forwarded to the SRT board for consideration.
A meeting would also be held this week with the consultants of the Transport Company and the SRT to discuss in detail how to revise the land use plan, he said.