Page 137 - ANNUAL REPORT DESIGN

2014/15 proved to be a challenging year for Thai businesses as the sluggish recovery of the Thai economy andpoliticaluncertaintiescontinuedtohamperthenation. Bangkok Mass Transit System CompanyLimited (BTSC) was also affected, with Core Net Farebox Revenue growing 3.5% YoY to THB 5.88bn, below our 6 – 9% target range. Total annual ridership reached 218.7mn trips, a growth of 1.9% YoY compared to 2013/14. The decelerated growth was primarily attributable to the shortened operating hours during the military-imposed curfew and the change in school and university terms to align with that of AEC. Average weekday ridership for 2014/15 was 673,162 trips, representing an increase of 2.5% from last year. Key growth factors include the expanding network (the full year effect of the operation of the Silom Line extension which opened in December 2013), full year effect of the new rolling stock (in service since May 2013) and continuedorganicgrowth(poulationgrowth,urbanisation and property development along the mass transi troutes).
Operating and maintenance (O&M) revenue rose 23.2% YoY to THB 1,549.3mn, exceeding the 17% target. This was mainly due to the full year operation of the Light Green Line – Silom Line extension (from Wongwian Yai (S8) to Bang Wa (S12), which commenced full operation on 5 December 2013), the contractually agreed increase in the operating fee of Dark Green Line – Sukhumvit extension as well as the additional scope of work in the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) contract.
On 17 April 2013, BTSC sold the future Net Farebox RevenuesfromtheCoreBTSSkyTrainNetworktotheBTS Rail Mass Transit Growth Infrastructure Fund (BTSGIF). Thetransaction enabled the Company to secure funding for the upcoming expansion of the mass transit network, which is forecasted to in- crease from 84.8km currently to 471.3km1 by 2029. The Company expects to be a lead participant in this expansion and is now strongly positioned to do so both from an operational expertise and financial perspective. Following the sale, BTSC remains the operator of the BTS SkyTrain and the Company maintains a significant investment in the Core BTS SkyTrain Network via a 33.3% holding of investment units of BTSGIF.
OPERATIONS PERFORMANCE IN 2014/15
BTSC continues to maintain high standards of safety and services throughout its operation. The key indicators for operations performance include service reliability, train reliability and ticket reliability. Service reliability measures the punctuality of the trains, with the target set at more than 1,000 trips per delay of 5 minutes or greater. The results achieved for 2014/15 were an average of 757 trips, a decrease from 2013/14 and also missing the target. The lowresultwasonaccountoftheinstallationofnewPlatform Screen Doors (PSD). During the initial stage of operations, the signaling system had to be calibrated to synchronise with the PSD, which caused interruptions and delays to public service. Train reliability measures the distance travelled before a fault occurs. The target is set for not less than 35,000 car-kilometres per fault and BTSC recorded 72,895 car-kilometres per fault in 2014/15, exceeding the target although the reliability dropped from 2013/14. Again, the decline was attributable to the abovementioned new PSD system implementation. Ticket reliability refers to the number of transactions before a fault occurs, which includes equipment failure as well as mishandling of tickets by passengers. The target was set at not less than 15,000 transactions before a failure, and ticket reliability in 2014/15 was recorded at 20,910 transactions per fault, stayingabovethetarget.BTSCperformsregularupgrades on equipment in order to ensure continuous improvement in performance and reliability.
THAILAND MASS TRANSIT MARKET OVERVIEW
IMMATURE RAIL MASS TRANSIT NETWORK
Since the inception of the BTS SkyTrain (the first rail mass transit system in Bangkok) in December 1999, rail mass transit usage in Bangkok has seen a gradual rise and in 2011, accounted for 5.8% (0.68mn trips) of the total mass transit usage in Bangkok (11.8mn trips per day). This is a relatively slow growth in the overall mass transit market share. According to the Office of Transport and Traffic PolicyandPlanning(OTP),modesoftransportcategorised
1Source: Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand OPERATIONS PERFORMANCE AGAINST TARGET
Performance
Indicators Target
2014 / 15
2013 / 14
Service Reliability (trips)
More than 1,000 trips per delay of 5 minutes or greater
757
1,890
Train Reliability (car-km)
Not less than 35,000 car-km per fault
72,895
97,570
Ticket Reliability (transactions)
Not less than 15,000 times before a failure
20,910
22,914
BTS GROUP HOLDING PCL 27 ANNUAL REPORT 2015 / 16