News #199: Another messy transit interchange for Bangkok

Hello from from Ho Chi Minh City. I will be doing a little road trip this week to look at some coastal developments and to scope out the urban area for a proposed transit system. I will then come back for Tet (lunar new year in Vietnam) before most businesses shut down for a few days.

The Bangkok series continues with a very niche article about a transit station in Nonthaburi (north of Bangkok). I have previously written about the bad interchanges of bangkok’s urban rail transit system, so this is another one to add to the list.

Latest posts at Future Southeast Asia

• Nonthaburi Civic Center: A missed opportunity to build a great transit hub

Nonthaburi Civic Center station is a Bangkok MRT station on the Purple Line, Pink Line, and the future Brown Line. Unfortunately for Bangkok, the station doesn’t provide an integrated transfer between lines.

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News

🇰🇭 Cambodia

• Cambodia plans expressway from P.Penh to Sa Kaeo border• New Phnom Penh bridge start construction next month

• Kampot steals spotlight as new tourism, investment hub

🇮🇩 Indonesia

• Indonesian govt aims IKN Airport trial to start in July

"Indonesia's Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi targeted the operational trial for Nusantara Capital City (IKN) Airport to start this July. The minister inspected the Nusantara Airport's development progress in IKN on Wednesday."

• Indonesia's new capital hinges on election as Jokowi set to exit

“With most funding from private sector, Nusantara struggles to convince investors it is here to stay.”

• Linking 17,000 islands in Indonesia tests a nation on the rise

“President Joko Widodo has vastly expanded Indonesia’s infrastructure. But debt is soaring at state-run builders, prompting questions about the speed of construction.”

• Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway marks 100 days of operation with 1.45 mln passengers transported

• Whoosh faces hefty deficit in first year of operation• Jabodebek LRT train declared as national vital object

• Singkawang Airport's construction work is 95-percent complete: Govt

🇱🇦 Laos

• Singapore offers support to unlock Laos’ potential

🇲🇾 Malaysia

• LRT system best answer to Johor Baru’s congestion woes, says Malaysia Rail Industry Corporation

• JB needs LRT system to disperse traffic coming in from Singapore via the RTS, says project proponent

"The proponent of a light rail transit (LRT) system in Johor Bahru says the state capital needs an LRT system to disperse the traffic from Singapore to the city that will be carried by the Rapid Transit System (RTS) that is now under construction."

• KLIA Express introduces dynamic pricing with new 30-year concession extension agreement

• KKIA urgently needs an upgrade, Hajiji tells Loke

• You can take a free ride on the Putrajaya Autonomous Rapid Transit this February

• Prasarana to only buy EVs for new buses from next year, Loke says

🇲🇲 Myanmar

• Myanmar OKs resumption of construction at Beijing-backed Indian Ocean port

🇵🇭 Philippines

• NEDA seeks private funding for Bataan-Cavite bridge project

• Transfer of Embo barangays to Taguig affected Makati’s subway project

• MMDA eyes more stations for Pasig River Ferry

• SMC clears 2 M tons of silt from Bulacan river channels

• Laoag Int’l Airport expansion takes off (map)

• Neda OKs upgrade, expansion of Laguindingan Int’l Airport (map)

• 'Parang Japan': Bautista eyes full digitalization of PH railway system

🇸🇬 Singapore

• MBS gets URA approval to build 587-room fourth tower, down from previous 1,000-room plan

• Woodlands Checkpoint expansion work to start in 2025, first phase to be completed by 2032

• LTA mulls over leasing out land under MRT viaducts for commercial, community use

• Construction work in Clementi for Maju MRT station on Cross Island Line to start in Q2

• Shelving of SimplyGo plan: What are other cities doing with public transport payments?

• Will new rail link push more Singaporeans to opt for life in Johor Bahru as cost of living, rent in city state soars?

• The changing attitudes toward Chinese property developers in Singapore

🇹🇭 Thailand

• Thailand's tallest office tower opens with green building status

• Beijing says construction of multibillion-dollar China-Thailand rail must be sped up

"China and Thailand need to speed up the construction of a delayed, high-speed railway to link their countries, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Monday at the end of a three-day visit to Bangkok."

• Transport Ministry's outlines its projects for 2024

• Phang Nga airport feasibility study back on track in bid to boost tourism in South

• A land bridge too far? Thailand's revived Kra megaproject a divisive issue among local residents

• Investment in Phuket real estate market hits B100bn record

• Cabinet okays 18 southern projects

🇻🇳 Vietnam

• Vietnam - China railway will connect tracks from 2025

"Vietnam Railway Administration (Ministry of Transport) said it is working with the China National Railway Administration to agree on a point to connect 1.435 mm standard gauge railway tracks between the two sides at Lao Cai, deployed from 2025."

• Hanoi plans June launch for 2nd metro line’s elevated section

• Major commercial complex to be built along Việt Nam-China Border

“A comprehensive development project, valued at over US$350 million, encompassing commercial, tourism, financial-banking and advanced technology facilities is slated for construction near Tân Thanh Border Gate in the northern province of Lạng Sơn.”

• Illegal $4M Phu Quoc hotel being dismantled