Anutin hints at dropping Pheu Thai’s 20-baht electric train fare policy

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul strongly hinted on Tuesday that his government would not continue a flagship policy of the Pheu Thai government, which subsidizes commuter fares to allow passengers to ride electric railways for just 20 baht per trip.

Anutin made the remark when he arrived at the Bhumjaithai Party head office to attend a party meeting.

The Pheu Thai-led government, which will be replaced by Anutin’s administration, had planned to launch the 20-baht flat fare for all electric railways in Bangkok and surrounding provinces from November 15.

“This project has to be reviewed to determine whether it will really benefit the people,” Anutin said.

“Some projects from the previous government were found to be incurring losses. We must maintain financial and fiscal discipline so that the projects can be sustained.”

“It wouldn’t be right for the government to continuously compensate operators for fare differences every year or buy back operations from private operators.”

The 20-baht flat fare per trip for electric railways was one of the flagship policies of the Pheu Thai government. It had promised to allow commuters to pay only 20 baht per trip on 13 routes of 8 electric railways starting November 15.

The Pheu Thai government has already registered commuters for the 20-baht fare, and as of August 28, approximately 260,000 commuters had signed up.

To facilitate the government’s subsidy for the fare, the House of Representatives passed three bills: the common ticket management bill, an amendment to the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand Act, and an amendment to the Rail Transport Act. These bills are currently pending deliberation by the Senate.