Project News

On May 24, 2022, the first Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting was held at the Department Rail Transport (DRT). JCC consists of relevant organizations from both Japan and Thailand and will be held about once every six months to report progress and to discuss and confirm matters related to the project.

Staff from the JICA HQ also visited Bangkok to discuss and adjust overall project framework including project activities and schedule with DRT, considering the project progress since the project started last year.

The JCC was chaired by Dr. Pichet KUNADHAMRAKS, Director General of the DRT, and participated by representatives from the Office of Traffic and Transportation Policy (OTP) of the Ministry of Transport, the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA), academia from Japan and Thailand, and JICA Expert Team. The following issues were discussed and confirmed.

(1) Project implementation structure

• The JCC will be held approximately twice a year for reviewing the progress and output of the project.
• The M-MAP2 platform will be launched at an early stage as a forum for relevant organizations to discuss railway policy. The main members will include relevant government agencies as well as railway development bodies, private railway operators, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the local administrative organizations of the surrounding provinces within Bangkok Metropolitan Region, and Thai and Japanese academia.
• The Demand Forecasting Working Group will focus on technical details related to demand forecasting.
• Monthly meeting between the DRT and the JICA Expert Team will be held to share progress regularly.
• DRT counterparts will be identified as core members who will consult with the JICA expert team on a daily basis and others who will deepen their knowledge of railway policy and planning through monthly meeting and the above meetings.
• Other relevant organizations will participate in the JCC, M-MAP2 Platform, and other relevant meetings and share their respective future plans.

(2) Detailed project plans and timelines

Project Design Matrix (PDM) has been approved including the following,

• Overall goal and project purpose with verifiable indicators
• Expected outputs with verifiable indicators
• Detail project activities to achieve above outputs.

Based on the agreement at this meeting, the M-MAP2 platform has been launched and a baseline survey has been conducted to confirm the level of understanding of DRT counterparts at the beginning of the project.

Opening remarks by Dr. Pichet, Director General of DRT

Opening remarks by Mr. Tomohiro ONO, Director of Team 3, Transportation Group, Infrastructure Management Department, JICA

Meeting at DRT Conference room