CHENNAI Metro Rail has awarded Indian manufacturer BEML a Rs 36.58bn ($US 431m) contract to supply 70 three-car trains, as well as depot machinery, training and maintenance over 15 years.
The 1435mm-gauge trains, each comprising two driving motor cars and a central trailer car, will mainly operate under automatic train operation (ATO) at Grade of Automation 4 (GoA4).
The new trains will be deployed on three new lines that are being built under Phase 2 of the Metro Rail programme in Chennai, comprising 118.9km of new lines of which 76.3km will be elevated and 42.6km underground. The three lines are:
- Line 3 Madhavaram - Sipcot (45.8km)
- Line 4 Lighthouse - Poonamallee (26.1km), and
- Line 5 Madhavaram - Sholinganallur (47km).
BEML says that the first train is scheduled for delivery in January 2027, with deliveries to completed by April 2029, when the maintenance element of the contact will begin.
“We are committed to delivering metro coaches of unparalleled excellence, manufactured at our Bangalore rail complex, to meet the requirements of Chennai Metro,” says BEML chairman and managing director, Mr Shantanu Roy.
“At BEML, we take immense pride in contributing to the nation's infrastructure development.”
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