The first of 46 new electric trains to be used on the BTS Skytrain network has arrived at Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri, Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc (BTSC) officials announced yesterday.
The four-carriage train was shipped in from Turkey so the skytrain operator will carry out testing before the green light is given for the rest to be shipped, BTSC chief Surapong Laoha-unya said.
The delivery was part of a deal struck with a consortium from German-based Siemens AG and Turkish manufacturer Bozankaya in 2016, for the delivery of 22 new trains. The remaining 24 trains will be sourced from China's Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd.
The deals are reported to be worth around 11 billion baht.
According to Mr Surapong, around nine of the Turkish-manufactured trains will be shipped to Thailand before the end of the year. The remaining 36 will be brought in before the end of 2019, he added.
BTSC reports state these trains will increase capacity from 1,490 passengers per train to a maximum of 1,573 passengers per train.
Each new train will have one carriage which includes perch seats, which allow passengers to rest their lower backs on the diagonal benches without fully sitting down, to save space.
Each train will have a total of eight perch seats -- four per side -- replacing the same number of regular seats.