The Finance Ministry and the Transport Ministry have initiated discussions about acquiring concessions for seven electric train lines, estimated to be worth around 500 billion baht, with the aim of bringing them under government control.
Finance Permanent Secretary Lavaron Sangsnit indicated that the initiative to take over urban and suburban electric train lines is driven by the goal of maintaining a fare cap of 20 baht for entire routes, a central campaign promise of the Pheu Thai Party.
According to Mr. Lavaron, the Finance Ministry received a request from the Transport Ministry, via the State Enterprise Policy Office, to investigate this possibility, and discussions are set to take place to assess its feasibility.
The Finance Ministry believes that establishing a fund to purchase the train concessions from private entities, effectively transforming them into state-owned assets, is achievable; however, more detailed discussions are needed, Mr. Lavaron commented.
An anonymous source within the Finance Ministry suggested that funding for acquiring the concessions could be sourced from an infrastructure fund by offering investment units to both retail and institutional investors. This would allow the government to use the revenue generated by the train lines to provide returns to unitholders.
Should the government move forward with buying all seven train concessions from private companies, the estimated cost exceeds 500 billion baht. The projects in question include: the Green Line skytrain (Mo Chit-On Nut and National Stadium-Saphan Taksin sections) valued at 50 billion baht; the Green Line extension (Mo Chit-Saphan Mai-Khu Khot) worth 27 billion baht; the Blue Line MRT (Hua Lamphong-Bang Sue) valued at 115 billion baht; the Blue Line extensions (Bang Sue-Tha Phra and Hua Lamphong-Bang Khae) totaling 81 billion baht; the Yellow Line (Lat Phrao-Samrong) valued at 48 billion baht; the Pink Line valued at 51 billion baht; and the Orange Line (Bang Khun Non-Min Buri) estimated at 140 billion baht.
Additionally, the Transport Ministry is considering implementing fees for vehicles entering Bangkok’s central area to alleviate traffic congestion and promote public transport usage. The Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning has been tasked with evaluating the viability of such congestion fees, with the revenue generated intended to contribute to the proposed infrastructure fund.
To sustain the 20-baht flat fare for electric trains, the Transport Ministry forecasts that the government would need to subsidize approximately 17 baht per passenger, resulting in a total subsidy of nearly 6 billion baht annually.
Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has backed the 20-baht flat fare initiative, advocating for the nationalization of train concessions while allowing private firms to manage operations, with the government retaining control over fare setting.
