The State Railway of Thailand’s new passenger carriages will be put into service on two of the four long-haul routes on Nov 11, and reservations are now open.
SRT governor Wutthichart Kalayanamitr said on Wednesday the carriages would be fixed to trains operating the Bangkok-Chiang Mai and Bangkok-Ubon Ratchathani routes.
Services on the Bangkok-Nong Khai and Bangkok-Hat Yai routes will get the comfortable new carriages a month later, starting on Dec 2.
Ticket reservations for these services can be made from Saturday.
The SRT paid 4.7 billion baht for 115 carriages from China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation and China CNR Corporation - the first new passenger coaches in 20 years. The order included nine first-class sleeper carriages, 88 second-class sleeper cars, nine carriages with facilities to support people with disabilities and nine dining cars.
All were delivered to Thailand in late September.
The new first-class sleeper cars feature 12 private rooms. Each room has a bunk bed for two passengers, a personal video screen and power sockets supporting a USB charger.
The second-class sleepers have four TV screens. Other facilities include an automatic lifted-up platform for people travelling with wheelchairs to board the train, vacuum toilets like those used in aeroplane, Wi-Fi connection and security cameras.
The staff uniform has also changed from dark blue to red with a pink stripe at the front.
Fares on the four routes, which operate daily are different, with the first-class tickets ranging from 1,157 to 1,594 baht, and the second class service from 731 up to 945 baht.
The SRT expects the modern carriages to serve up to 1 million passengers a year, generating an additional 500 million baht in revenue, or 15% extra income on top of the SRT's annual earnings of 3.3 billion baht.
New stylish and colourful uniforms for train staff
First-class sleeping compartment.
New aircraft-style bathrooms.
New dining car
