Today marked the opening of Istanbul, Turkey's first metro, constructed by an Alstom-led consortium and its Turkish partners, Albayrak and Cengiz Insaat, for a total investment of $550 million. The new five-mile line is anticipated to carry 70,000 passengers per hour in each direction for a total of 1.5 million passenger trips every day. Six stations, two of which have integrated shopping areas, serve riders. Work began in 1992, with Alstom joining the project as a turnkey partner in 1997. Alstom completed the civil works, installed all mechanical, communications and signaling systems and provided the rolling stock. Eight four-car trainsets were purchased at a cost of $45 million, with an option to buy 32 more cars. The planned second phase of the project would extend the line by four stations and nearly four miles. The total size of the proposed system would be 10 miles of track serving 12 stations with a rolling stock of 150 cars. In Asia, Alstom will lead the Nippon-Euro Subway Consortium, selected to partner with the Bangkok Metro Company Ltd. for the systems work and maintenance of the Blue Line, Thailand's first metro. The deal is worth more than $404 million to the consortium, with Alstom providing roughly 50% of the investment. Alstom already was contracted to provide trackwork and tunnel ventilation for the project, a deal worth approximately $89 million. The 25-year contract obligates Alstom to provide signaling and communications systems, systems integration, rolling stock and depot equipment. There is also an option to purchase four trainsets to augment the 21 three-car set already on order. Alstom's partners, Mitsubishi Electric and Mitsubishi Corp, will furnish power supply and fare collection systems, traction equipment and platform screen doors. The first 12.5 miles of the Blue Line are expected to go into revenue service in 2004. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the government entity overseeing the Bangkok metro, projects daily ridership on the Blue Line at 430,000 per day, to be achieved within the first five years. The metro will complement the other components of Bangkok's rail development plan which include Skytrain, an elevated rail system already in operation, and the Bangkok Railroad Improvement Project, which is still in the planning stages.