BTS rides the gravy train

The state or the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration needs to step in and stop the Bangkok Skytrain operator’s plan to raise its fares, which will add to the burden of the city’s commuters. Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc announced this week that it will introduce higher fares, to 16-44 baht from 15-42 baht, taking effect from Oct 1. The company said it had not raised its fares in four years, and the proposed hikes are in line with the concession contract, which set authorised fares at 20.11-60.31 baht.

Under the new fare structure, commuters are required to pay 16 baht for the first station, and 23 and 26 baht for two and three stations, respectively.

The company cited an increase in operating and maintenance costs, along with the need to raise funds to add 46 new carriages, as the reason for the higher prices. The BTS operator further said it wanted to introduce touch-screen ticket machines at all of its stations to make the service more convenient for commuters.

But the consumer protection network opposes the new fares, which it said will pile onto people’s living expenses. The network urged the company to forgo the new fare plan because it has yet to fulfil its obligation to ensure access to everyone, including the disabled and those in need of help, by installing lifts at all the stations as ordered by the court.

The network said the BMA has the right to step in and order the company to maintain the old fares, which are already expensive, at least until it provides lifts at every station.

The consumers group is right in pointing out that since the skytrain operator is able to turn a good profit from the service, it has no reason to raise the fares at this time. Moreover, it noted that the BTS fares are, relatively speaking, more expensive than those for similar services provided in other Asian countries, including Japan. It is also more expensive than the service in several Asean states.

Just how well has the company been doing? Keeree Kanjanapas, the company’s founder and owner, who suffered a massive loss in the first few years after he launched the service in late 1999, has reclaimed his status among the country’s top billionaires. Forbes ranked him the 13th-richest person in Thailand as of Aug 25, with a net worth of US$1.55 billion (51.4 billion baht). This is in sharp contrast to the debt-ridden BMTA, which charges commuters a flat rate of 6.50 baht for a single trip.

Not to mention that the heavy investment by the BMA in rail infrastructure for extensions in the east and west of Bangkok is tantamount to a windfall for the company — the sole operator of the Green Line rail system. The company has also won concessions for two additional lines from the state.

It is undeniable that while the BTS ridership has remarkably increased over the past several years, from 600,000 daily passengers in 2012 to 913,000 as of January this year, the service is largely limited to the middle class and some white-collar workers, as the less well-off cannot afford the fares. That reality challenges the idea of the rail service being a mass-transit system.

More importantly, the company’s claims regarding higher operating and maintenance costs is highly disputable. Train passengers, meanwhile, have put up with inconvenient ticketing systems that cause long queues, while the service has proved anything but sufficient during rush hour.

The consumer protection network said the company should not cite the purchase of new trains as the reason for the price hike, as more trains should allow for greater profits.

Instead of staying quiet, the BMA and the Prayut Chano-cha government should move to protect commuters from being taken for a ride.

The BTS Skytrain’s inaccessibility for the less well-off challenges the idea of the rail service being a masstransit system.