16bn baht needed for flat 20-baht electric train fare by 2025: Suriya
The government plans to introduce a common ticketing system and raise funds through the MRTA and other sources to apply the fare subsidy for at least two years
About 16 billion baht is required to fund the flat 20-baht fare on electric trains from September next year, Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit declared on Tuesday.
Suriya, who also doubles as deputy prime minister, said he was confident that a new law to set up a common ticketing system for all electric train routes under all concessionaires would be enacted in time for the government to start subsidising the fare from next September.
Once the 20-baht flat fare is applied next year, it will run for at least two years as this government will have two years left in its tenure, he said.
He said that the Rail Transport Department has confirmed that the subsidy will cost about 8 billion baht a year, so 16 billion baht is necessary for two years.
This statement indicates that Suriya may have abandoned the more ambitious plan he had unveiled during the tenure of prime minister Srettha Thavisin’s government. In that scheme, the government was considering buying back the concessions of all electric railways, so the government could enforce the 20-baht flat fare policy.
However, in the latest scheme, Suriya said the Transport Ministry will set up a common ticketing fund to raise funds for the subsidy, and 15 billion baht would come from the Mass Rapid Transit Authority (MRTA), which earns from profit sharing with electric railway operators.
The rest of the funding can come from other sources, like the Energy Conservation Fund, Suriya added.
He added that he had checked with the Council of State, which confirmed that MRTA’s revenue can be used to contribute to a common ticketing fund for paying the fare subsidy.
Suriya said the fund can start contributing to the subsidy only after the common ticketing system bill is enacted, so he will set up a working committee to speed up the bill's enactment.
The bill will aim to set up a common ticketing system and to seek contributions for the subsidy fund, Suriya added. He said he had checked with the Council of State about the time it would take to vet the draft law, and the council said four months.
“That would be too late to enact the bill in time for implementation in September next year, so I asked the council to cut the time and it promised to help speed up the vetting,” Suriya said.
“So, I’m confident the 20 baht flat fare policy for all electric railways can be implemented in September 2025.”
He noted that the 20-baht flat fare policy was enforced in two routes since October last year and it has helped increase the number of passengers. The two routes are the Red Line from Bang Sue to Rangsit and Bang Sue to Taling Chan and Purple Line from Tao Poon to Klong Bang Phai.
