Yesterday, Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc (BTSC), the company that operates the BTS Skytrain, announced that it may raise fares for Bangkok’s light rail system.
This plan of action is being discussed in light of an energy shortage that is expected to besiege the Kingdom this April. During that month, repairs to a gas processing station in Myanmar will leave Bangkok with a significant dearth of electricity.
However, the BTS system’s operators are saying that they will likely raise fares regardless, the gas line repairs in Myanmar providing only a convenient excuse.
The current fare for the BTS has been in place since 2005 and the company that runs the Skytrain is allowed to increase the fare periodically, provided it keeps the rate hikes to within 25% of the current toll and announces the changes 30 days in advance. If the fare were to increase, it would likely change to a minimum rate of THB18 per ride and a maximum rate of THB51 per ride.
In conversation with the Bangkok Post, Surapong Laoha-Unya, director and chief operating officer of the BTSC, said that riders should expect a fare increase between April and June of this year.
