The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has shelved its planned development of commercial space covering 32 rai of land at Bang Sue Grand Station after no private companies submitted bids for the project.
SRT governor Nirut Maneepan said yesterday the board of directors had suspended the 11.7-billion-baht project last Wednesday after two rounds of bidding yielded no offers.
Mr Nirut said that in light of this, SRT Asset, a subsidiary of the SRT, will review the study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) and the development blueprint may need to be rejigged to make the project more appealing at the present time.
Meanwhile, Mr Nirut said the SRT board has also postponed its decision on Red Line fares while it considers other data and discuss the matter with the Department of Rail Transport. The suggested fare had been between 12-42 baht.
The fare structure needs adjusting, Mr Ninut conceded, although the SRT still has time left before the launch of the line as a full commercial service in November.
In the meantime, a trial run is set to start on Aug 2 with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to chair the opening ceremony remotely.