Originally Posted by
MegatopLover
Very helpful to understanding what's being considered. I suspect you're quite right that work won't begin for quite some time. Will believe it when I see it.
For me, staying on Thonburi side, I can use Krung Thonburi while Saphan Taksin is closed. Not as pleasant or convenient, but likely a better option than walking from Surasak to the Pier.
We are seeing the consequences now of earlier short sighted decisions.
It is worth remembering that the extension to Wong Wian Yai (which opened 2 years late in May 2009) was originally going to have 3 stations - S7 immediately across the river (& above Charoen Nakhon rd), S9 at WWY right above Tak sin rd intersection and the middle station, Krung Thonburi S8, basically in the middle of both.
However, the BMA decided to save some funds and cut the number of stations from 3 to 2. (They did the same for the On Nut to Bearing ext from 6 to 5).
Thus, idea of 2 stations either side of the river for ease of crossing never came to fruition. That would obviously be somewhat handy in this context as people could easily access the river side and use the cross river ferry ....or walk if so inclined.
It also had the consequence that rather than WWY being a relatively close (approx 300m) interchange with the SRT WWY station (for future Dark Red line and Purple line southern extension) it is now located over twice the distance away. This is annoying for most pax who use the Tak sin rd corridor.
That decision now also has impacts for the now approved Purple Line southern extension, the MRTA is having to ensure that a 700m pedestrian link is built between BTS WWY stations and the future Purple Line WWY station which will be located at the current SRT WWY station!
https://goo.gl/maps/r2sMWy2PbjE2