Airport Rail Link to be made state

Deputy Transport Minister Chatchart Sithipan said the State Enterprise Policy Committee at a meeting chaired by Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong agreed to raise the Airport Rail Link to a status similar to that of the State Railway of Thailand by making the Finance Ministry its major stakeholder. It will be monitored by the Transport Ministry.
Airport Rail Link operates a rapid transit line from Suvarnabhumi Airport, via Makkasan, to Phya Thai station in central Bangkok. The company has been facing management problems due to low registered capital, which is only Bt140 million.
The rail link serves only 4,500 passengers daily and earns about Bt45 million a day. An average of only 300 passengers a month travelled from Makkasan Station to Suvarnabhumi Station. The connection of the Airport Rail Link route to other mass-transit systems is not flexible at the moment.
Chatchart said the committee also approved Bt460 million to improve the financial liquidity of Airport Rail Link. Kittiratt will bring the Airport Rail Link issue to be further studied by concerned government agencies, which will take about six months, before submitting it to the Cabinet for approval.