BTS eyes green-line routes

BTS's executive chairman and chief executive officer Keeree Kanjanapas said in an interview with The Nation that the company has informally told the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) that it is interested in operating the routes.

The two routes run from Mor Chit to Saphan Mai, a length of 12 kilometres, and from Soi Baring to Samut Prakan province with a length of 13 kilometres.

Keeree added that BTS is also willing to finance the construction of the two routes from its own cash on the condition that the BMA or the government provide a soft loan.

BTS will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of its managing and operating the Skytrain this December.

Keeree added that when the company invested in developing infrastructure for and operating the Green Line's first two routes from Mor Chit to Onnuj and National Stadium to Sathorn 13 years ago, the company learned it needed liquidity for the first 10 years of operation. After that the business will generate sufficient return to cover investments and pay back the government within 10 years. As a result, if the government has a problem constructing the extensions, the company is willing to invest but the company needs the government's financial support for the first 10 years of the project start to construction.

Keeree said the company wants to see the 55.9-kilometer Green Line finished for the convenience of Bangkok commuters.

"We offer this idea because we want to see the completion of the Green Line, which we started 13 years ago. This year we will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Skytrain, and we want to see more good news with the extension of the Green Line, Bangkok's first Skytrain," he said.

He added that if the government plans to invest in the project by itself and asks private firms to operate the system under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), BTS is ready to do so, as the company is one of Skytrain's two operators, and has experience managing the system.

The company is interested only in the Green Line, because it believes this route has commercial potential and will  return the investment within 10 years, he said.

BTS shouldered a debt burden of nearly Bt100 billion after the financial crisis of 1997, when the baht was devalued from Bt25 per US dollar to Bt50.

The company took 12 years to implement a debt-rehabilitation plan.

The company now has total debt of only Bt10 billion, and will spend the next eight years paying back creditors.

BMA owns the concession of the existing Green Line from Mor Chit to Onnuj and the extension route from Onnuj to Soi Baring, and the National Stadium to Wong Wian Yai leg. BTS operates the Skytrain on these existing routes.

However, the BMA and the government have yet to decide whether State Railway of Thailand or BMA will construct the routes from Mor Chit to Saphan Mai and Soi Baring to Samut Prakarn.

The BMA is constructing the route from Onnuj to Soi Baring, which is expected to be complete in this year.