Suriya defends govt’s plan to buy back railway concessions

Caretaker Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit explained on Monday that though the next government will buy back electric railway concessions, concessionaires will be compensated fairly by being hired to run the railway.

Suriya said the Pheu Thai-led government was not planning to revoke the confessions unfairly as feared but would reimburse concessionaires and hire them to operate the railways until their original contract expires.

He explained that this buyback was necessary for the Pheu Thai-led coalition government to implement its election campaign of applying the flat 20-baht fare for all electric railways in the capital to ease the burden on residents in Bangkok and neighbouring provinces.

Suriya added that the electric railway concessions had been signed under PPP (public-private partnership) Net Cost contracts, under which the private sector invests in the railway operating system, operates the railways and shares part of the collected revenue with the government.

After the buyback, the contracts will be turned into PPP Gross Cost contracts, in which the government will collect the revenue directly and hire private firms to operate the railways.

He said the concessionaires, including Bangkok Mass Transit System Corporation (BTSC) and Bangkok Expressway and Metro Plc (BEM), will be hired to operate the railways for as long as their original contracts last. After that, a bidding session will be held for new operators.

Suriya said the Transport Ministry will soon consult with the Finance Ministry about setting up the Infrastructure Fund for buying back the railway concessions.

He added that he has also assigned the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning to study the possibility of imposing congestion charges on motorists to contribute to the Infrastructure Fund.

Suriya explained that this charge would be slapped on motorists driving in downtown Bangkok during rush hour,