City may stop Green Line free rides

A passenger stands ready to board a Green Line extension of the BTS skytrain. (Bangkok Post photo)
A passenger stands ready to board a Green Line extension of the BTS skytrain. (Bangkok Post photo)

Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt is planning to collect fares along two Sukhumvit Line extensions.

Mr Chadchart on Thursday held a meeting with Krungthep Thanakom, City Hall's business unit, and his advisory team on the Green Line, which is operated by Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc (BTSC).

Mr Chadchart said the details of the Skytrain system must be reviewed as it involves many agencies.

The Green Line extension's concession will not be renewed under the Public-Private Partnership Act, and the outstanding debt owed to a private operator worth about 40 billion baht must be reviewed, Mr Chadchart said.

Regarding debt, Krungthep Thanakom reported that some revenues from the railway line extensions from the On Nut-Bearing and Taksin-Bang Wa sections went to a private firm.

However, the city may have incurred debt from a free ride programme along the Mo Chit-Khu Khot and Bearing-Samut Prakan routes, it said.

To ease the debt issue, fare collection along these two routes may have to start soon, Mr Chadchart said.

"Currently, many commuters in Bangkok must bear the debt of others riding for free along the sections," Mr Chadchart said. "So the debt issue cannot be used to expedite the concession renewal process because the private firm also benefits from the free rides."

Vocabulary

  • agency (noun): a government department that provides a particular service - หน่วยงานราชการ
  • City Hall: a city government, in this case, the Bangkok city government - กรุงเทพมหานคร
  • commuters: people who regularly travel between work and home - คนเดินทางระหว่างบ้านและที่ทำงาน
  • concession: a right that is given to a person or group to do a particular activity - สัมปทาน
  • debt (noun): an amount of money that you owe - หนี้, นี้สิน
  • expedite: to make something happen quickly or easily - เร่ง
  • fare: the money that you pay for a journey - ค่าโดยสาร
  • firm: a business or company - บริษัท
  • incurred: to have to pay money as a result of doing something - ประสบ, ได้รับ
  • revenue: income from taxes or business activities - รายได้
  • review: to carefully examine or consider something - ตรวจสอบ
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