He has dismissed speculation of a private takeover of the rail system.

Permanent-Secretary for transport and the chairman of the State Railway of Thailand or SRT board, Supoj Suplom said the Airport Rail Link is still operating normally and is not facing liquidity problems, since its funds are drawn from the SRT budget.

The SRT has vowed to continue to improve the Airport Rail Link and will not allow private companies to manage the operation, since public transportation takes some time to settle.

Nonetheless, Supoj admitted there are still certain weaknesses in the Airport Link system, which caused some inconveniences for passengers, and the SRT and related agencies are looking to improve the flawed areas to facilitate and attract more passengers.

The SRT plans to build a sky bridge, and expand its transportation system and parking lots, and it is discussing the possibly of slashing fares during rush hour.

The permanent secretary noted that Airport Link fares have been cut by 20 to 30 percent, attracting more passengers to use its services.

There are currently 40,000 passengers using the City Line and 2,000 using the Express Line per day.

The announcement came after key tourism associations and airlines have conveyed their worries about poor facilities and service at the Airport Link, which began operating in January.
Only Thai Airways International has check-in counters at the downtown end of the Airport Rail Link, and they serve only 20 passengers per day, said Piyasvasti Amranand, president of the national carrier. Bangkok Airways has shut down its check-in counters altogether because of the lack of passengers using them.
The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) on Friday raised the issue at a meeting, claiming that the authority had totally failed in its handling of this operation as it was attracting only a few passengers.
ATTA members said the big problem with the Airport Rail Link was that it was inconvenient to use. There is no direct connection with the MRT subway or BTS Skytrain and there are no lifts for those with large pieces of luggage.
Source: The Nation

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