A former deputy governor of Bangkok says he supports the idea floated by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra of having the government buy back electric railway concessions to cap fares at 20 baht per trip.
Samart Ratchapolsitte made the comment on his Facebook page on Tuesday after caretaker Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit said earlier that he agreed with Thaksin’s idea, as it was in line with the ministry’s policy to cap train service fares at that level.
Under the plan, the transport and finance ministries would work together to buy back concessions from private companies and then hire them to operate the services until the original concession terms end.
Mr Suriya said earlier that the government wanted to roll out a 20-baht cap across all rail lines in Greater Bangkok by March 2026. The 20-baht price limit currently applies only on the Purple and Red lines operated by the Mass Rapid Transit Authority (MRT) and the State Railway of Thailand, respectively.
Fares on the two most widely used mass-transit systems vary by distance, ranging from 17 to 43 baht on other MRT routes and 15 to 62 baht on the BTS Skytrain system.
Mr Samart said buying back rail concessions is not a new idea. Five years after the Skytrain opened, the government considered buying back the first concession from Bangkok Transit System Plc (BTS) in early 2004 in order to cap fares at 15 baht.
However, the idea never moved forward despite there only being one line in operation at the time: the Green Line comprising the Mor Chit-On Nut and National Stadium-Saphan Taksin sections.
“Buying back the electric train concessions is one way to make electric train fares cheaper, but it would require a lot of money,” Mr Samart wrote on Facebook.
“Currently, there are eight electric train lines in service, covering a total distance of 274 kilometres. Where will the money come from? So the idea to find the money came from collecting tolls in the business district where there is a lot of traffic, called a congestion charge or congestion pricing.”
Singapore was the first country to introduce a congestion charge, called the Area Licensing Scheme, in 1975. At that time, the city-state did not have an electric mass transit service, but it did have efficient public buses.
When the new service started, there were objections because the measure affected the use of private vehicles. However, due to the strict enforcement of the plan, everyone had to fall in line.
Enforcement in Thailand is another matter, however.
“Thailand has studied the use of traffic congestion fee measures many times, but never put them into practice. Now we will study it again. However, I do have some concerns about the use of traffic congestion fees,” said Mr Samart.
First, there must be electric trains in the area where the congestion charges are to be collected, he said. It is also essential to have public transport that moves people efficiently to and from train stations, he noted.
There must also be a parking lot outside the area where the congestion fees are to be collected. The ministry should determine if the fees will be exempted for residents and businesspeople in the area, and it must also address other issues such as details about the date and time of the toll collection, which type of vehicles it will apply to, the number of passengers in the vehicle, the method of collecting the toll, and the respective penalties.
Finally, Mr Samart asked if the government would invite businesses to invest in electric train services in the future, and also what would happen if the state is unable to buy back the train concessions.
Lastly, he raised the idea of the government buying back expressway concessions to reduce toll fees.
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