The Expressway Authority of Thailand (ETA) and the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy Planning are negotiating with concessionaire Bangkok Expressway and Metro (BEM) to reduce the maximum toll on the Ngamwongwan-Rama 9 double-deck expressway from 90 baht to 50 baht.

Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit claimed today that the negotiations will be successful and that the new tolls will come into force within August, which will ease the financial burden on many motorists using the 17km section of expressway.

The new rate will range from 25 baht to 50 baht, which means that the out-bound Prachachuen toll plaza and the out-bound Asoke toll plaza, where a 25-baht toll fee is currently charged, will be negated.

The toll at in-bound Prachachuen toll plaza and at the in-bound Asoke toll plaza will be reduced from 65 baht to 50 baht and from 50 baht to 25 baht respectively, said Suriya.

He said, however, that the toll reductions will mean that the revenues of BEM will drop and the ETA will compensate the company by extending the concession for the first and second stages of the expressway, which is scheduled to expire on October 30^th, 2035.

He also said that the ETA’s revenue sharing with BEM, currently set at 60:40, may be adjusted to 50:50, to compensate BEM for lost revenue, adding that this issue is yet to be finalised.

The transport minister went on to say that the Transport Ministry will press ahead with its plan to extend the Ngamwongwan-Rama 9 double-deck expressway further, to ease traffic congestion on the Ngamwongwan-Phaya Thai-Rama 9 section of the Si Rat expressway, especially at Phaya Thai, where traffic has reached a critical level, with more than 400,000 vehicles using that expressway section each day.