The Transport Ministry agrees to move the Morchit northern bus terminal to Rangsit while the existing terminal will serve short distance bus services.
According to the ministry’ permanent secretary Mrs Soithip Trasisuthi, the new Morchit terminal will serve long distant destinations in the North and the Northeast.
The new bus terminal must be on a land with the size of at least 80 rai and must be located either on the left or right side of Phaholyothin road.
The land must be located in north Bangkok but not farther than Thammasat university Rangsit campus, she said.
The present Morchit northern bus terminal will be downsized to 16.43 rai from 70 rai and will serve as a terminal for two types of buses under Category 30.
The present terminal will serve 40 tour buses and Transport Company’s 3,197 passengers vans which currently operate shuttle services from Bangkok to destinations within the 300-kilometre radius.
The Transport Company will return the remaining 53 rai of land at its present Morchit bus terminal to the State Railway of Thailand to build Central Bang Sue railway station.
She expected that the new northern bus terminal in Rangsit could be built and ready to give service in 2017.
Transport Company’s deputy managing director said the company would invite landlords to submit tender to sell land to the company to build the new northern bus terminal this week and expect bidding to be called and finished next month.
Construction of the new bus terminal could begin next year and finish in two years.
The new terminal will give service in 2018, he said.
He said the company has earlier estimated the new bus terminal to cost around four billion baht, but the figure now has to be reassessed after its board has instructed to downsize the terminal from original plan of 150 rai to 80 rai.
The final plan of the downsized terminal will be forwarded to the board for approval this month and later forwarded to the Transport minister for acknowledgement.