The first lot of 99 Chinese-made natural gas-powered (NGV) buses have arrived at Laem Chabang deep-sea port and will be put on service for Bangkok’s bus commuters by the New Year.
Bestrin Group which won the 3,389 million baht deal to procure a total of 489 NGV buses for Bangkok Mass Transit Authority took members of the media to Laem Chabang in Chon Buri province to observe the recently-arrived 99 Chinese-made buses which were assembled in Malaysia.
Mr Kanis Srivachiraprapha, chairman of the Bestrin Group, told the media that between 20-25 NGV buses would be put on test run each day starting on Saturday. He said that the buses would be fitted with GPS system and registered with the Land Transport Department before they are to be handed over to BMTA on December 15.
The second lot of 145 buses will arrive at Laem Chabang port on December 4-5 followed by the third lot of 145 buses and the final lot of 100 buses in December. All of them will be delivered to BMTA within December and gradually put into service starting on the New Year’s Day.
Each bus which is air-conditioned can accommodate up to 60 passengers. The door is open and closed automatically and the bus will not move if the door is not closed properly. One unique difference from the rest of the buses of BMTA is that it can accommodate wheel-chaired passengers.
