A Study of Competitiveness between Low Cost Airlines and High-Speed-Rail: A Case Study of Southern Corridor in Thailand

Abstract

This paper investigates the competitiveness between Low Cost Airlines (LCA) and High Speed Rail (HSR) on the southern corridor where LCA predominate at present. A study of passengers' O-D pairs in southern corridor of Thailand was conducted. The O-D surveys were carried out for the 2 sections of the southern corridor: Surat Thani-Bangkok (ST-BKK) and Hat-Yai-Bangkok (HY-BKK). The competitiveness between HSR and LCA and the Willing-To-Pay for the HSR fare were analysed using factors determined by the multinomial logistic regression model and binary logistic regression model, respectively. Competitiveness between HSR and LCA did not depend only on travel time alone but also on factors such as fare difference, users' occupation, household income, education level and trip purposes.The result of the Willingness-To-Pay for the HSR fare showed the fare for O-D pairs between ST-BKK and HY-BKK at 1.8 THB/km (US$ 0.06/km) and 1.5 THB/km (US$ 0.05/km), respectively. The average HSR fare was 1.65 THB/km (US$ 0.055/km). This is in comparison to the fare of HY-BKK 2.45 THB/km (US$ 0.08/km) for a LCA, and an average of 2.65 THB/km (US$ 0.09/km) for another LCA. It is seen that the fare differential of 1 THB/km (US$ 0.03/km) could be significant in making passengers change from LCA to HSR.