BMA staring at huge losses from Green Line train operations in years ahead, Chadchart warns
Bangkok may have to bear an estimated total loss of 85.7 billion baht from the Green Line train operations during 2030 to 2041, Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said on Tuesday, painting a grim picture of the capital’s finances in the coming years.
Chadchart was speaking at a seminar titled “Survive or Sustain”, hosted by the Alumni Association of Faculty of Engineering at Chulalongkorn University.
Chadchart said the concession for operating the Green Line extension routes (Mo Chit - On Nut and Saphan Taksin – National Stadium), currently held by Bangkok Mass Transit System, will expire at the end of 2029. These sections would have been transferred to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) from 2030.
However, back in 2012, former BMA executives had signed a contract that stipulates the Green Line operation must be awarded to private companies from 2016 to 2041, which means the city would need to pay private operators until 2041, said Chadchart.
“The BMA estimates that the cost of operation and maintenance of Green Line trains from 2030 to 2041 would be around 239 billion baht, while the revenue from train fare will be around 153 billion baht,” he said. “That means the BMA will have to shoulder a loss of 85.7 billion baht over the 12 years, or an average of over 7 billion baht loss per year.”
Chadchart added that this calculation is based on a fare of 30 baht per person for the extension sections, and it already factors in a 3% increase in number of passengers each year.
The governor said a 7-billion-baht loss per year is a heavy burden for the BMA. It is higher than the city’s public health budget (6.6 billion baht per year) and almost double the 3.6 billion baht per year it allocates for schoolchildren’s lunch.
“I’m not saying it’s anybody’s fault, as the contract was already signed and approved,” Chadchart said. “I brought this up because it is an important issue that the new generation must be responsible for. After all, the money to pay for the loss will come from taxes that we all have to pay.”
