SRT follows Indian track

Governor Yutthana Thapcharoen said yesterday the target had been set following a trip to India to see how Indian Railways had recovered financially. He said the Indian authority had returned to profit thanks to the introduction of double-track rail as well as the investment in track of various gauges to benefit cargo shipments.

Indian Railways is also equipped with a sufficient number of locomotives and carriages, has a local carriage manufacturing plant, as well as an IT system that backs up the reservation system. The authority now earns 70 per cent of its income from cargo shipment and 30 per cent from passenger transportation, said Yutthana.

"In the medium term, the SRT must raise its cargo revenue. Though we cannot succeed in a short time like in India, we have a target to raise cargo revenue from 30 per cent to 50 per cent," he said.

In order to achieve that, the SRT will pursue double-track rail investment on many routes as well as procure new locomotives to increase the number of trips.

Yutthana said the SRT would hasten the procurement of 20 locomotives worth Bt3 billion, a purchase which has been delayed for years. Previous governments tried to barter the locomotives with agricultural products, but without success. The SRT now plans to open bidding for the procurement, which could take six months. The locomotives could then be delivered within a year.

"With the new tracks and new locomotives, the frequency of trips would be increased and this would benefit both cargo and passenger transportation and lead to punctuality," he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Finance Minister Pradit Pataraprasit said at a seminar on logistics yesterday that the government would put more emphasis on rail networks to reduce logistics costs.

"We must do this, given the oil-price crisis … The private sector must be encouraged to increase the shipment of goods by rail, which stands at 10 to 15 per cent at present compared to 75 per cent in India," he said.

Yutthana added that the SRT would speed up its budget disbursement. In the current fiscal year, the agency has disbursed only Bt6.9 billion or 34 per cent of its allocated budget of Bt20 billion. This is partly due to the legal dispute concerning the Red Line bidbing, which has delayed the project for five to months.

Yutthana hopes that in the two remaining months of the fiscal year, the SRT can disburse an additional Bt2.68 billion.