The Transport Ministry has vowed to open a new mass transit line every year during 2016-20, with 10 more routes planned in Greater Bangkok as land prices along them continue to soar.
The first new line is the Purple Line from Tao Pun to Bang Yai, opening this Saturday, said Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith.
But the link between the Purple Line's Tao Pun station to the MRT Blue Line's Bang Sue station is still missing. The Mass Rapid Transit Authority (MRTA) will provide a shuttle bus service to connect them and seek contractors to build the link, scheduled to be completed and open for public use next year.
The Blue Line from Bang Sue to Tha Phra and from Hua Lamphong to Bang Khae will start running in 2018, while two extension lines of the Light Green Line from Bearing to Samut Prakan and from Mor Chit to Saphan Mai will be completed in 2019.
"We are discussing with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration about an asset transfer of the Light Green Line's two extensions, which will be managed by the BMA," Mr Arkhom said.
Three new lines including the Purple Line from Kae Rai to Min Buri, the Orange Line from Thailand's Cultural Centre to Min Buri and the Red Line from Bang Sue to Rangsit will be completed in 2020.
The ministry will also propose an environmental impact assessment (EIA) regarding an extension of the Purple Line from Tao Pun to Rat Burana. It will also consider the feasiblity of building 10 more lines throughout Greater Bangkok over the next decade.
"Bangkok's central business districts will keep growing, but at a slower pace as the new mass transit lines will change the city's landscape and boost new developments in the outskirts," the transport minister told a property seminar yesterday. "This can help reduce the city's congestion."
Sopon Pornchokchai, president of the property consultant Agency for Real Estate Affairs Co, said mass transit lines have boosted land prices in locations along them.
This year, the highest increases in land prices year-on-year were registered in three locations: on Ratchadapisek Road near The Mall Tha Phra; on Kluai Nam Thai-Rama IV Road; and in the Samrong area.
Mass transit lines have been a key driver for prices hikes on the Ratchadaphisek Road in the Thon Buri area. On Rama IV Road, land prices rose as those on Sukhumvit Road were so high that the Kluai Nam Thai area became more attractive.
At the same time, land prices in Samrong were boosted by the extension of the Light Green Line from Bearing to Samut Prakan, said Mr Sopon.
In locations along the Purple Line from Tao Pun to Bang Yai, land prices last year rose 9.6% on average from 2014.
Those along the Blue Line from Tha Phra to Bang Khae and Tha Phra to Bang Sue saw an average price increase of 10.52%, while prices for locations along the Red Line from Bang Sue to Taling Chan only rose 1.9%
The average land price increase in Greater Bangkok was 3.2%.