Metro station in Chennai (Jayasankar Madhavadas/Facebook)As part of Phase-2 of Chennai Metro, Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has awarded a contract worth Rs 947 crores to Alstom Transport India Limited for the supply of 26 driverless (unattended train operations) train sets with a 3-car formation each, amounting to 78 cars.
A three coach train set will have the capacity to carry 980 passengers at a time and operate at a top speed of 90 km per hour.
The contract covers the supply of driverless trains, as well as the design, manufacture, testing, and commissioning of standard gauge metro rolling stock, personnel training, spare parts supply, and defect liability.
The contract is being funded by the Tamil Nadu Government.
According to a press release from CMRL, the first driverless train will be rolled out in 2024, followed by rigorous trails and testing for driverless train operation.
Phased delivery of all trains is planned under the 40-month contract.
In phase-1, Alstom produced 52 trains for CMRL.
Rs 63,240 crore was announced by Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman for the 118 km long Chennai Metro phase II in her budget speech in February this year.
Phase-2 consists of three lines, namely Line-3 from Madhavaram to Siruseri (45.81 km with 48 stations), Line-4 from Light House to Poonamallee (26.1 km, 28 stations) and Line-5 from Madhavaram to Sholinganallur (47 km, 46 stations).
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