Arkhom Termpittayapaisith explained that the number of passengers using the service had more than doubled in the five years it has been in operation. He continued by saying 70,000 passengers a day now utilised the Suvarnabhumi Airport Rail Link and the acquisition of extra bogeys was a matter of some urgency.
The contract was supposed to have been signed earlier in September, but was shelved after claims the specifications requirements for the trains favoured CRV. The company was the only one of four interested parties to submit an official tender.
Critics said the CRV trains were too expensive and were being fitted with four times the number of drive mechanisms they actually needed. The SRT board had allocated THB4.4 billion to finance the purchase.
The Airport Rail Link currently has seven trains in service and another two in the workshop. Mr Termpittayapaisith said the current trains needed a good overhaul to keep them up to standard.
Thai transport minister okays purchase of Bangkok Airport trains
News in Asia
Thailand’s transport minister has approved the purchase of new trains for Bangkok’s airport link by the national rail operator. The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) will now sign a contract with China’s Changchun Railway Vehicles (CRV) to supply seven four-carriage trains.