Originally Posted by
glennaa11
so BTS will be even more crowded? How many new trains are they adding?
Posted again...
New BTS Trains Coming to Extended Route
BTS Skytrain executives on Monday officially unveiled the first of 46 new trains in Chonburi province, purchased for 11 billion baht to support the Sukhumvit line and its extension to Samut Prakan province, which will open in December. The train, comprising four carriages, was delivered Sunday.
Company representatives said the new trains’ carriages, bought from German and Chinese companies, have a 10 percent greater capacity than current ones. All new trains will be delivered by late 2019.
The popular city rail network currently serves about 900,000 daily commuters. Surapong Laoha-Unya, the company’s director, said in 2017 that 52 trains were in service along both lines. Its official website says each train accommodates up to 1,490 passengers.
Seems like two orders: twenty-two four-car trains from Siemens and twenty-four four-car trains from China. Believe the former are due by the end of 2019; some have been delivered, not sure about the latter? The Sukhumvit line extension from Bearing to Kheha/Samut Prakan is scheduled to open in December 2018. Not sure about the northern extension from Mor Chit to Saphan Mai, and Saphan Mai to Khu Kot, assume the latter order might be to accommodate that expansion?
Assume they'll start removing seats like they've done to the MRT? Once the Samut Prakan extension opens I'd expect there to be issues, both operational and capacity.
The BTS still seems to be suffering from daily operational issues, power, signaling, break-downs have all been mentioned in the tweets I've seen over the past few weeks. The BTS has gotten better about using Twitter to provide accurate, timely information. They also added a LINE group. I definitely feel for the folks who have to commute daily. Saw some horrible photos last night from Asoke BTS, just massive crowds.