Alstom, BEML, Mitsubishi And Titagarh Wagons In Race To Supply 72 Coaches For Yellow Line Of Namma Metro

Four firms - Alstom Transport, BEML, Mitsubishi Electric, and Titagarh Wagons- are in the race to supply 72 new coaches for the yellow line of Namma Metro’s 73-km Phase II project, a part of which is on course for completion by the end of Dec 2022 or early 2023, Deccan Herald reported.

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), the executing agency for the project, floated a tender in April this year to supply 72 coaches as a contingency measure after the original contract awarded to a Chinese firm ran into rough weather.

In December 2019, the BMRCL awarded a contract for supplying 126 metro coaches to Chinese firm CRRC Nanjing Puzhen Co Ltd, a subsidiary of CRRC Corporation Ltd.

The Chinese firm won the Rs 1,578 crore contract that included the supply of 126 cars with distance-to-go (DTG) technology and 90 cars with communication-based train control (CBTC) technology.

As per the terms of the contract, the supplier had to commit to either set up a new factory in India to produce the cars or strike a partnership with a domestic manufacturer to ensure timely delivery.

With the earlier contract still embroiled in a protracted legal battle, BMRCL floated a new coach supply tender this April to procure the supply of 72 metro coaches. The successful bidder was given four and half years to supply the coaches. Currently, the technical evaluation of these bids is on.

The 72 coaches (12 trains, each comprising six cars) are expected to be deployed on the 19.5-km Rashtriya Vidyalaya Road-Bommasandra Line (Yellow Line). The Yellow line is fully elevated with 16 stations. R.V. Road station is the terminal station on the city side where an interchange is provided with the fully functional Green Line.

BMRCL is hoping to commence trial runs on the stretch between Central Silk Board and Bommasandra (nearly 15 km) of this Reach-5 line as it is in an advanced stage of completion.

BMRCL has additional seven six-coach train sets that it has already received from BEML and will deploy them on the Yellow Line till we get coaches from the new contract