BMCL tipped to run Blue Line expansion
Legal wrangle holds up cabinet approval
Bangkok Metro Plc (BMCL), operator of the capital’s underground mass-transit system, is likely to win a contract also to run the two extensions of the Blue Line electric rail route, a Government House source says.
In principle, the current operator of the main Blue Line route should also operate this line’s extensions, Bang Sue-Tha Phra and Hua Lamphong-Bang Khae, the cabinet decided at its meeting on Tuesday.
Most cabinet members — including Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, Deputy Prime Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula, and Transport Minister Prajin Juntong — backed the plan in principle, the source said.
However, the cabinet on Tuesday did not move to formally approve the proposal because it did not want MR Pridiyathorn to take full responsibility for the decision, the source said.
MR Pridiyathorn approved the idea and if the cabinet had gone ahead and formally approved it, he would have been given the job of directly overseeing it, the source said.
Instead, the cabinet assigned the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) and the Council of State to study the proposal to allow the BMCL to also operate the Blue Line’s extensions. They will resubmit the proposal to the cabinet again next week, the source said.
This means responsibility for the decision to have the BMCL operate the Blue Line extensions will be shifted to the Transport Ministry, which will be regarded as officially proposing the idea, the source said. Speaking after the cabinet meeting, ACM Prajin Juntong said the cabinet agreed the operation of the electric rail system should be seamless and shouldn’t be a burden on consumers.
However, the NESDB and the Council of State will have to decide whether a bidding format or negotiations under public-private joint venture laws should be the means to decide who operates the train services on the Blue Line extensions, ACM Prajin said.
If the project is implemented under the Public-Private Joint Venture Act 2013, choosing an operator should take about two more months.
However, if the project is implemented under the Public-Private Joint Venture Act 1992, new bids will have to be called to select the operator of the train services which may result in a lack of consistency in the project and more costs, he said.
A conclusion on this legal matter is expected in two weeks, he said.