BEML Limited, a Ministry of Defence enterprise, has emerged as the lowest bidder for manufacturing train sets under one of the contracts for Chennai Metro Rail’s Phase II project.  The Rs 632.46 billion Phase II project, which spans three corridors, has divided the production contracts for its three-coach driverless trains.

Under the first contract, awarded two years ago, the first driverless train was delivered last month and is currently undergoing testing at the depot.  Officials from Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) confirmed that BEML’s bid for the second contract, covering parts of Corridor 3 (Madhavaram to SIPCOT) and Corridor 5 (Madhavaram to Sholinganallur), has been accepted. However, the contract will only be finalised after receiving approval from a high-level committee, which includes members of the State government. This approval is expected by the end of this month or early next month.  

Under the second contract, BEML will manufacture 210 coaches, which equates to 70 three-coach driverless trains. The company will have two years to complete the delivery of all the trains. The contract is valued at approximately Rs 36 billion, with the trains likely to be produced in Bengaluru.  For the first contract, which covers the production of 36 trains (108 coaches) for Corridor 4 (Light House to Poonamallee), Alstom secured the bid, and production is currently underway.

 The new driverless trains, designed to run at speeds up to 90 km/h, will each carry around 1,000 passengers per trip. Although the trains will initially operate without drivers, roving attendants will be present during the early stages of operation.

(The Hindu)