Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) has awarded a Rs 850 crore contract to a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned CRRC Corporation for 36 train sets consisting of 216 coaches for the phase 2 of Namma metro project, The Times Of India reported.

CRRC will also establish a facility in Andhra Pradesh’s Sri City and has reportedly committed to manufacturing 34 of the train sets, or 204 coaches, in India.

Out of the 216 coaches, 126 coaches or 21 six-car trains will operate on the purple and green lines. The rest of the 90 coaches or 15 six-car trains will operate on the yellow line. The delivery of the coaches will begin in the third quarter of 2021.

BMRCL Managing Director, Ajay Seth, was quoted in a report saying, “They have committed to manufacture 34 (204 coaches) out of 36 (216 coaches) train sets in India. The awarded cost is almost Rs 235 crore less than that of L2 (second-lowest tender) cost.”

Namma Metro Phase 2 includes the extension of the two Phase 1 corridors, as well as the construction of two greenfield lines.

1. Green Line extensions by 9.32 km – The south-end of the Green Line is being extended by  6.29 km (Yelachenahalli to Anjanapura Township along the Kanakapura Road) and the north-end by 3.03 km (Hesarghatta Cross to Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) on Tumkur Road on NH-4).

2. Purple Line extension by 24.05 km – The east-end of the will be extended by 15.25 km (Baiyappanahalli to Whitefield) and the west-end by 8.8 km (from Mysore Road to Kengeri).

3. A new 18.82 km long fully elevated R V Road – Bommasandra line is being constructed which passes through city’s IT hub located at Electronic City. There are 16 stations on this line.

4. Another 21.25 km greenfield line connecting Gottigere and Nagawara. The line is mostly underground (13.79 km), but also has 6.98 km elevated and 0.48 km at-grade sections. There are 18 stations on this line, of which 12 are underground and 6 are elevated.

Phase 2, when completed, will span a  length of 72.095 km  and will comprise of 13.79 km of underground, 0.48 km at grade and 57.825 km elevated, and adds 62 stations to the network of which 12 are underground.

BMRCL has also set new deadlines for completion of the upcoming lines: Yelachenahalli-Anjanapura Township in August 2020, Mysuru Road-Kengeri in October 2020, Byappanahalli-Whitefield in August 2021 and Nagasandra-BIEC in January 2022.

Work on the much needed standalone line in RV Road-Bommasandra in the burgeoning suburb of South Bangalore will be ready by November 2021.

This area falls in the industrial areas in Anekal Taluk, with others being Attibele and Chandapura. The Gottigere-Nagawara line is expected to be ready by June 2024 respectively.

It should be noted that CRRC had also supplied rolling stock to Metro systems in Mumbai, Gurgaon, Navi Mumbai, Kolkata, Noida and Nagpur.