Airport Rail Link still suffering big losses

[reader]

From the Nation

Bangkok’s Airport Rail Link operator has been losing approximately 70 million baht per month as passenger traffic has not returned to pre-pandemic levels yet, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) said.

The monthly passenger numbers currently come in at 1.87 million, down from 2.5 million before the pandemic, SRT governor Nirut Maneepan said on Friday.

The railway links Suvarnabhumi International Airport to downtown Bangkok.

The SRT is in the process of transferring the Airport Link’s management rights to Asia Era One, a subsidiary of Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group.

CP Group also leads the consortium that won the 276.5-billion-baht contract for a high-speed railway linking Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-Tapao airports.

The Airport Link transfer, however, is pending as the contract requires adjustments related to the drop in passengers.

Nirut said SRT was willing to let Asia Era One pay the 10.67-billion-baht fee for management rights in instalments instead of a one-time payment, though it will be charged a monthly interest.

Under the contract, Asia Era One also needs to contribute part of its profits to SRT, but it must shoulder its losses on its own.

Asia Era One has been unofficially operating the Airport Link since October 25, 2021. Nirut said judging from an average loss of 70 million baht per month, it will have already lost at least 1 billion baht since taking over.

He also said that though the transfer of management is not completed, the authority has received several complaints from Airport Rail Link passengers about service quality, such as air conditioners not working, overcrowding and long waits.

“We will discuss these issues with Asia Era One and find ways to fix them as soon as possible,” he said.

Nirut said SRT was willing to let Asia Era One pay the 10.67-billion-baht fee for management rights in instalments instead of a one-time payment, though it will be charged a monthly interest.

[PeterRS]

Whenever I have taken the train it has invariably been full. Perhaps this is because most occasions were at or close to rush hour. I do feel, though, that 45 baht each way for an airport train is almost ridicuously cheap. In Hong Kong for roughly a similar length of ride it is close to 500 baht with 2 stops before the end of the line. The Nartia express in Tokyo is about the same, although the journey distance must be double with no stops, unless you take a train going beyond Tokyo station which is then a bit more expensive.

[reader]

Agree that the fare is low and I’d gladly pay more for the convenience. When the line first opened there was a higher cost express service with only a few stops between airport and Phaya Thai. That, however, was discontinued. The line also serves commuters and the critical means for workers to get to and from airport so those fares need to kept affordable.

A practical solution might be for employers to subsidize workers for higher fares while travelers pay a more equitable fare.
 

[PeterRS]

3 hours ago, reader said:

Agree that the fare is low and I’d gladly pay more for the convenience. When the line first opened there was a higher cost express service with only a few stops between airport and Phaya Thai. That, however, was discontinued. The line also serves commuters and the critical means for workers to get to and from airport so those fares need to kept affordable.

A practical solution might be for employers to subsidize workers for higher fares while travelers pay a more equitable fare.

The original airport express had no stops between Makkasan and the airport as far as I recall. The intention had always been to make Makkasan an in-town terminal similar to Hong  Kong and some other cities. But only Thai and 1 or 2 other airlines were ever interested. So Makkasan became a huge white elephant and the original non-stop express discontinued. Another reason was the trains on the express service were always breaking down and requiring maintenance!

I agree about the iocal fares having to be reasonable. But I believe they are actually too low, the more so when you compare them with those for the Skytrain and the MRT. Travel 8 stations on the Skytrain and this costs 47 bahtI have no idea of the distance covered by 8 Skytrain stations, but looking at a map it seems Phaya Thai to Ramkhamhaeng on the airport train is very roughly the same distance as Saphan Taksin to Phaya Thai on the BTS. The Skytrain costs 47 baht. The maximum on the airport train is 17 baht. Surely the airport train is too cheap!

[alvnv]

5 hours ago, reader said:

Agree that the fare is low and I’d gladly pay more for the convenience. When the line first opened there was a higher cost express service with only a few stops between airport and Phaya Thai. That, however, was discontinued. The line also serves commuters and the critical means for workers to get to and from airport so those fares need to kept affordable.

A practical solution might be for employers to subsidize workers for higher fares while travelers pay a more equitable fare.
 

or, offer airport and airline employee discounts. In the West all major airport services used to offer them on everything: from transport and parking to dining and shopping.

[PeterRS]

1 hour ago, alvnv said:

or, offer airport and airline employee discounts. In the West all major airport services used to offer them on everything: from transport and parking to dining and shopping.

From my understanding, the majority of local travellers are not so much those working at the airport. Quite a number embark and disembark at the interediate stations especially Ramkhamheang.

[reader]

10 minutes ago, PeterRS said:

From my understanding, the majority of local travellers are not so much those working at the airport. Quite a number embark and disembark at the interediate stations especially Ramkhamheang.

I use the air train regularly and I see many airport workers, especially when departing the airport station. Some 95 carriers use the airport and there are tons of associated businesses and services with thousands of employees and the train is how most of them get to work.

[PeterRS]

11 hours ago, reader said:

I use the air train regularly and I see many airport workers, especially when departing the airport station. Some 95 carriers use the airport and there are tons of associated businesses and services with thousands of employees and the train is how most of them get to work.

I have no doubt this is correct. But will not most of the airport workers - and I stress 'most' - be travelling relatively early in the morning and then returning relatively late in the afternon or evening? This will tend to coincide with rush hour for passengers and so trains are invariably full. The local airport train as opposed to the ditched non-stop express was always intended also for local travellers who would be travelling between stations. No idea how many of these there will be but I always see a lot getting on and off at Ramkhamhaeng. However, my point is merely that they pay a good deal less for such distances than those travelling on the Skytrain and MRT.

[reader]

Agree that a fare increase is warranted but frequently obscure terms in the original enacting legislation (or contracts) for individual system operators tie their hands on fare changes. 

Given the nature of airport ops, some shifts begin and end at odd times, although agree bulk are geared to needs of passenger loads. 

The train is such a key asset to any international airport I hope a solution short of reduced train frequency is found.