Airport Rail Link Seeks 1.8 Billion Baht for Cash Flow

The Airport Rail Link has submitted a request to the Cabinet, asking for 1.86 billion baht to increase the company's cash reserves to 2 billion baht.

Deputy Governor of the State Railway of Thailand Pakorn Tungjedsakaow, who is also the acting president of the Airport Rail Link reported that the Public Debt Management Office has already submitted a request to the Secretariat of the Cabinet, asking for 1.86 billion baht in additional budget to cover the company's operating costs.

Pakorn said that the issue is being considered along with other related agencies and they expect the request to be passed along to the Cabinet for its consideration on September 27.

The budget request is consistent with the previous government's plan to raise the Airport Rail Link's registered capital from 140 million baht to 2 billion baht, as was decided on April 12 this year.

If approved by the current administration, the first loan package of 410 baht will be integrated into the company's 2012 fiscal year budget.

At the moment, the company is more than 7 billion baht in debt.

Currently, the Airport Rail Link's City Line has about 37,000 riders daily, and generates about 1.14 million baht per day.

The company is considering running more trains, and shortening the interval time between trains, which is now 15 minutes, to accommodate the increasing number of riders, especially during rush hours.