More electric public buses to be on service in Greater Bangkok

BANGKOK,June 20 (TNA) - The state-run Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) will procure 200 additional electric buses to serve the public in Greater Bangkok by mid-2018. BMTA Deputy Director-General Prayoon Chuaykaew told journalists on June 19 that BMTA will submit the procurement plan of the 200 new electric passenger buses to the Ministry of Transport for further consideration within this week, after which the plan will be forwarded to the Thai Cabinet for further consideration and a decision by next month. If approved by the Cabinet, the BMTA deputy chief explained, the first lot of 50 electric passenger buses will arrived at BMTA by the end of this year, while the remaining 150 buses will be delivered by mid-2018. The procurement of the 200 new electric passenger buses is in lieu of a plan to procure 489 leased buses powered by natural gas for vehicles (NGV), with their delivery earlier set by October 2017. The procurement plan of the 489 NGV-driven passenger buses have been shelved indefinitely pending a final decision of BMTA top management. (TNA)