SRT is in a state of loco-motion

There can be no light at the end of the tunnel for the State Railway of Thailand so long as executives and union members drive the agency in different directions.

The SRT's restructuring blueprint aimed at shunting it out of the red has gone through changes twice over the past six months. The latest version, already agreed in principle by the government, sees it divided into three business units in charge of services, maintenance and management of its assets. A future lucrative service, the Airport Rail Link, will be run separately as a subsidiary.

The change is obviously to soothe anger from the union which strongly opposed the previous plan which separated the SRT into subsidiaries. Union members shouted out loud that turning the operation into subsidiaries was full of hidden agendas to privatise the debt-ridden agency in the future.

The union's position on the revised version is unclear. At least the revision will ensure that the SRT still fully owns the business units. But that does not mean the track to restructure the train agency will be easily negotiated.

If there is one thing that railway executives and the union have in common, it is that they have steered the SRT into a near coma. Debt has climbed inexorably over the years to more than 70 billion baht. Services, although getting better, are still woeful. Passengers never know whether they will be stranded in the middle of the trip as the driver does not want to continue in protest against the management.

The bottom line obstructing the attempt to pull the SRT out of its slump comes down to one thing. Executives and union members do not trust each other and do not like each other.

Ask any management officials at the SRT's head office about the union and they will shake their heads in despair. For them, any plan to improve the agency always runs into opposition from union members if it interferes in any way with their own interests. That includes the new structure. The most sensitive target to be attacked by the union in the future is the train service from Makkasan to Suvarnabhumi airport because it has the potential to make a profit quickly. Of course, the SRT does not want old staff, including union members, to take part in this operation. Its executives need newly recruited staff. They will be more qualified and will not give the management trouble in the future as the union is doing now.

Turn to union members and ask them about their bosses at headquarters and all will say the same thing. They are not qualified and do not deserve to run the organisation. They rose to power because of political influence, so they have to pay back the politicians by giving them lucrative deals. One thing politicians want to get their hands on is the SRT's properties, especially those in Bangkok.

Governments both present and past know that railway executives and union members are on separate tracks. But nobody at Government House cares to step in to intervene in order to resolve their differences.

Turning a blind eye to the root cause of the SRT's problems is bad enough. What is worse is the government also has played a part in sending the SRT deeper into debt. It has been continually blocked from increasing fares despite rising operational costs for fear of angering passengers - voters, to be more specific. Every time the SRT urges fares be set at a realistic level, the call ends up rejected by cabinet ministers who cite its public service obligation to help the poor.

The last time passengers had to pay more for fares was in 1985 - 24 years ago. What the SRT has done since then is to come up with extra fees. The fare for second class from Bangkok to Chiang Mai is an example. The fare is 281 baht, which is extraordinarily cheap for the 751 kilometre ride that takes 12 hours plus. But a passenger in a second class, air-conditioned sleeping berth pays up to 905 baht due to top-up fees. Still those charges are not enough to cover the cost, not to mention make a profit.