Common ticketing system faces delay

The expected introduction in January of a common ticketing system for all electric train systems in Bangkok will be delayed, according to the Transport Ministry.

Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said yesterday the common ticketing system, called the maengmoom (spider), card was now expected to be up and running around the middle of next year.

The spider card will then serve as a single ticket. Passengers currently have to buy separate tickets for each rail service they use on a journey.

Initially, the new ticket will be used for all four electric rail systems currently in service, namely the BTS Skytrain, the MRT Blue Line, the Purple Line subway service and Airport Rail Link, said the minister.

The delay is a result of the ministry having to draft a new law to regulate management of the new ticketing system, Mr Arkhom said.

A company in the form of public-private partnership was also being formed to manage the system, he said, adding the company would be called the Common Ticketing Company (CTC).

Plans to establish the CTC were to be forwarded to the State Enterprise Policy Office and the Public-Private Partnership Committee for approval, he said.

The Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTTPP), Krungthai Bank and the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) were expected to jointly manage the common ticketing system if it is launched before the CTC is established, he said.

Chaiwat Tongkamkoon, director of the OTTPP, said electric rail service operators were also required to prepare for the arrival of the single ticketing system.

The BTS skytrain operator, for instance, now has to decide how to integrate its Rabbit passes with the new ticketing system, said Mr Chaiwat.

A source at the ministry said BTS now has about 10 million passengers using Rabbit passes.

An electronic chip would have to be embedded into each Rabbit pass to allow their holders to use them with the new ticketing system, the source said.

The Transport Ministry had initially assigned the MRTA to manage the common ticketing system in the early stage of its operation, and under the earlier plan was expected to be launched in January next year.

In the future, the common ticketing system could be expanded to cover the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority's bus services, public boats and the new electric rail routes when they are completed.