City Hall's plan to build a monorail linking Chulalongkorn University and Silom Road has run into an undercurrent of concern about just who will benefit from it.
A meeting was called recently to introduce the concept, at which participants later confided that they thought it might only provide a service to the university and nearby shopping malls, crowded near Siam Square, rather than the general public.
They also said it was difficult to see how the link would draw in commuters, as expected by City Hall's adviser, Team Consulting Engineering and Management Co Ltd (Team).
The Chulalongkorn University-Silom line is one of four routes suggested by the city's Traffic and Transportation Department which wants to connect a monorail - a transport system running on a single rail line - with the electric railways to extend the transport network in the capital.
The three other routes would link City Hall in Din Daeng with Victory Monument, Ramkhamhaeng University and Thong Lor, as well as to the broader destinations of Bang Na and Suvarnabhumi airport. All of the links are currently at the feasibility study stage.
Team unveiled the Chulalongkorn University-Silom route first in order to gauge public opinion. About 250 people, including representatives from state agencies, private companies and educational institutions in the area where the route passes, attended the April 4 meeting.
The 6km elevated monorail would connect Chulalongkorn University, Silom Road and Sam Yan intersection, providing passengers with a total of 11 stations, project engineer Chaturan Chaemphaibun told the meeting.
The project is divided into three phases. The first phase, expected to be completed and operational in 2016, consists of six stations starting from the Chaloem Phao intersection near Henri Dunant Road and continuing to Siam Square, Pathumwan, Triamudom Suksa School, Chulalongkorn University and Sam Yan before returning to Chaloem Phao.
The second phase, scheduled for 2018, consists of three stations: Sam Yan market, Banthat Thong and Chula Soi 12.
The third phase, expected to be ready by 2020, will be built along Henri Dunant Road with two stations: the Thai Red Cross Society and the Royal Bangkok Sports Club.
Mr Chaturan insisted the monorail line would greatly help to relieve traffic congestion near Pathumwan intersection where up to 75,000 vehicles a day are recorded.
Furthermore, thousands of passengers from the BTS Skytrain and the MRT underground stations on Silom Road could easily use the monorail service to go further to Sam Yan intersection and Siam Square.
"It's also friendly to the environment and society," said Mr Chaturan, explaining the small structural requirements would not trap automobile emissions.
A monorail, he said, was also cheaper to build than other electric train projects. The construction of the monorail would cost about 1.2-1.6 billion baht per kilometre, compared to 3.5-4.5 billion baht/km for the underground train and 1.8-2.5 billion baht/km for the skytrain.
Its capacity would be between 7,000 and 33,000 passengers per hour.
But to those who turned up to hear the details, the benefits would mostly accrue to Chulalongkorn University. They wanted to know whether it was necessary for other Bangkok commuters.
The doubts they expressed worried a university representative who said the project was stirring strong emotions against Chulalongkorn even though the project was conceived solely by City Hall without any university role in it.
The university representative said he also doubted whether the monorail project was worth the investment as he did not think the project would encourage more people to leave their cars at home and use the monorail to travel to the areas.
One participant said if City Hall did go ahead with the project, it must not repeat the mistakes of previous mass transport projects which failed to install facilities to serve people with disabilities.
"Take the BTS Skytrain, for example. The skytrain stations were not designed to serve disabled passengers from the very beginning.
The BTS only installed them after facing fierce protests from the public," he said.
Narachai Chonsinsongkhramchai, who is in charge of public relations for the project, said the participants' responses provided important data to Team.
The company will answer all questions in the second project presentation to the public, which is scheduled for next month.
The company will then hold another public hearing before presenting all the findings to City Hall's Traffic and Transportation Department in October.
City administrators will eventually decide whether to go ahead with the Chulalongkorn University-Silom monorail, which has become another controversial transport project in the capital.
