Thailand signs contracts for its first monorail lines

Bombardier Transportation has announced two contracts for its Innovia Monorail 300 system for two mass rapid transit lines in Thailand.

The contracts are with the Northern Bangkok Monorail Co. Ltd. (NBM) and the Eastern Bangkok Monorail Co. Ltd. (EBM), who will be responsible for the turnkey construction and 30-year concession of the new, elevated lines which will improve the commute for over 400,000 people every day.

The contract with NBM concerns the new 34.5km Khae Rai-MinBuri (Pink) Line to operate with 42 trainsets and EBM’s contract comprises 30 train sets for the 30.4km Lat Phrao-Samrong (Yellow) Line.

The contracts also include providing the project management, systems engineering and integration, testing and commissioning for the new trains and systems.

Bombardier will design and supply the mechanical and electrical elements for the two monorail lines, and will deliver 72, four-car INNOVIA Monorail 300 trains (288 cars) equipped with Bombardier Cityflo 650 automatic train control technology for driverless operation.

The trainsets will be manufactured at the Bombardier joint-venture Puzhen Bombardier Transportation Systems (PBTS) in China, working with Bombardier’s global Monorail Product and Engineering Experts.

“Bombardier is helping cities across the world address their congestion issues and these iconic monorails will be an important addition to Bangkok’s growing rail network, providing comfortable, quick travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers daily,” said Richard Hunter, President of Rail Control Solutions and South East Asia at Bombardier Transportation. “Our driverless INNOVIA Monorail 300 system offers energy efficiency, sleek design, spacious interiors and inter-car walkthrough for superb comfort and enhanced safety as well as rubber tires for minimised noise and a smooth ride. Also able to handle sharp curves and complex environments, it is well suited to the high-capacity requirements of the Thai capital. Falling in our 20th Anniversary Year in Thailand, it is truly a landmark milestone for our monorail technology to be chosen for these visionary urban development projects in Bangkok.”

Operating in the city’s northern and eastern areas, the monorails will integrate with the existing transportation network and run at speeds up to 80km/h with a maximum capacity of over 28,000 passengers per-hour, per-direction.