Extending BTS concession to Green Line makes sense: utilities operator

An extension of the BTS concession to the BTS Green Line will not repeat the decades-old problems experienced between Hopewell and the Thai state railway, said Kittisak Aramrueng, the president of Krungthep Thanakom, a public utilities operator.
Kittisak made the comments during the Komchadluek programme on Nation TV channel 22.

The company had filed documents as required under the government regulations, he said and analysed the economic impact of the Green Line’s future operation, such as cost and income per line.

Under the previous BTS concession from Mo Chit station to On Nut station, and from National Stadium station to Saphan Taksin station, the company was granted a 30-year concession allowing them to operate until 2029.

The Bangkok government authority would take on the burden of debt if it invested in the construction of extensions. The contract mandates an investment in the system. The transfer of the rail system’s infrastructure from the MRTA would total Bt73 billion (excluding interest burden), which caused Bangkok to employ BTS as the Green Line operator for the whole system.
For the renewed concession of Mo Chit-On Nut line and National Stadium-Saphan Taksin, BTS received a total investment concession for 30 years ending in 2029 and then extended for a further 30 years to 2059, granting BTS a concession totalling 60 years.

He gave three reasons for extending the concession.

First, the national government has not directly supported infrastructure investment, and the Local Administration Department has a poor track record in infrastructure investment. If the BMA does not extend the BTS concession, city hall should shoulder all responsibility to operate the Skytrain. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) was responsible for the Mo Chit-On Nut line and the National Stadium-Saphan Taksin line operated by BTS operation under a base Bt15 fare, but that fare is not sufficient to make further extensions worth the investment. 

Second, the BMA has held market sounding sessions for other private companies, but it had failed to attract much interest from the private sector. Third, the Bangkok administration will have to find a way to manage the Green Line train fares that support public transportation without having to dip into the city’s budget to subsidise the fare.

“Transportation infrastructure investment should be government’s duty,” said Kittisak. “However, the government saw the potential for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to manage and invest in a way that exempted them from using their budget to build the infrastructure in Bangkok.”