Bangkok’s City Hall prepares to consider future of skytrain
Study to set out all the options as existing concession will expire in 2029
Bangkok city officials are preparing to consider the future of the skytrain system, as the expiry of the existing 30-year concession is just four years away.
The Traffic and Transportation Department expects to complete a study next month and will forward its recommendations to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), an official told a forum on Tuesday.
The report will consolidate comments from all stakeholders regarding the future contract of the mass-transit train line, said Sitthiporn Somkitsan, the director-general of the department.
The current concession contract covers only the section between National Stadium and Saphan Taksin stations on the Silom Line, and between Mor Chit and Onnut on the Sukhumvit Line.
They are currently operated by Bangkok Mass Transit System Co (BTSC), which is expected to seek a new 30-year concession running until 2059.
However, BTSC may have some competition. Other companies said to be interested include the construction firms Ch. Karnchang and Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction, Gulf Energy Development Plc, and the operator of the Don Muang Tollway operator. All sent representatives to the meeting on Tuesday.
The BTS system carries 850,000 passenger trips per day and the number is expected to reach 1.55 million in the future, once two more carriages are added to each train to bring the total to six cars.
A BTSC source said the company still holds an edge over other potential competitors as it will have a lower investment cost in preparing for a new bid.
Adul Kaewdee, a representative of the Association of Siamese Architects, told the seminar that the future of the BTS will also hinge on the policies of the central government.
Ownership of the line may have to be transferred from the BMA to the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand to serve any national administration that favours a flat-rate fare regime for all mass transit lines.
A 20-baht flat fare on all of Bangkok’s light-rail commuter lines was a key promise of the Pheu Thai Party but it was pushed out of office before it got a chance to get the measure passed.
The decision on the future of the existing concession for the skytrain also needs cabinet approval for the final stage under the bureaucratic system.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/3157753/city-hall-prepares-to-consider-future-of-skytrain
