Transport Company purchases 489 NGV buses

 

  

BANGKOK, 30 September 2016 (NNT) – Transport Company has signed on to purchase new air-conditioned Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) buses to serve Bangkok starting this December. 

Minister of Transport Omsin Cheewapruek chaired the signing of the contract to buy 489 NGV buses worth 3.389 billion baht from Bestrin Group Ltd. 

The company is to begin supplying the buses to Transport Company within 90 days with the first batch estimated to be 150 buses in December. 

The buses being purchased are produced in China by Sun Long Company are able to transport 60 people at a time with lowered emissions versus traditional fuel buses. The vehicles also come equipped with wheelchair access and foldable seating to accommodate the disabled. 

Once the first delivery is made, a test run of the buses will be conducted for 4-5 days before they are put into service. Rides will be offered at a fare rate of 12-24 baht. 

 

-- nnt 2016-09-30

To have wheelchair access would mean the buses would have to stop at the side of the road ..aint gonna happen.

This must have been the tender that two Euro companies pulled out of because the authority kept changing the specs, which came to  resemble more and more the Chinese bidder's product.  Oh, look, here it is:

 

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/789521-bangkoks-new-bus-fleet-saga-why-scania-volvo-opt-out/

Weren't the buses confiscated from OA usable?

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Once the first delivery is made, a test run of the buses will be conducted for 4-5 days before they are put into service.

 

 

I would have thought a test run should be made before the purchase.

24 minutes ago, Anthony5 said:

 

 

I would have thought a test run should be made before the purchase.

 

You would think so but they were going to buy from the Chinese all along.

18 hours ago, Anthony5 said:

Weren't the buses confiscated from OA usable?

 

Not since they were (a) sold and (b) new, not secondhand buses were required.

Buying from China!!  Look out for the fires and blow ups!

will probably last 3-4 years! 

22 hours ago, Anthony5 said:

 

 

I would have thought a test run should be made before the purchase.

Nothing new about NGV buses and already used in other nations successfully.

BMTA is doing test runs on electric buses however.

22 hours ago, Kaoboi Bebobp said:

kept changing the specs, which came to  resemble more and more the Chinese bidder's product.

Not exactly. The issue wasn't changing specs but alleged bid collusion.

 

BMTA board originally approved signing of the procurement deal with JVCC Co, a joint venture of Cho Thavee Dollasien Plc, which won the bid to supply the fleet to BMTA in May 2015 at 3.5 million baht per bus.

But then the only other bidder Bestlin Group Co Ltd, importer of Sunlong bus from China, petitioned PM Prayut to investigate after it claimed to have detected unusual conditions in the bus procurement agreement that it claimed could inflict damages to the state. Bestlin then filed a lawsuit against Aek, who is also deputy police chief, along with seven members of the BMTA's board and the director of JVCC Joint Venture Suradej Taweesangsahultai, for alleged collusion.

So now BMTA is buying from Bestlin and the collusion investigation has been dropped. And BMTA has sweetened the purchase deal by adding full maintenance at about an additional 3 million baht per bus.