Made in Brazil, the ‘mock-up’ will give CMRL an idea of what the actual train will look like
The first model coach of Chennai Metro Rail that was manufactured in Brazil has arrived in the city.
Soon, it will be taken to Sri City, a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) located near Tada in Andhra Pradesh, about 60 km north of Chennai. Manufacturer of the coach, transport infrastructure major Alstom, has a facility there.
The model coach, or ‘mock-up’ as it is known in design parlance, is currently at the Chennai Port, according to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL).
It seeks to give CMRL an idea of what the actual train will look like. “The materials used to make this coach are not those which will be used in the actual metro coaches, but we will get a sense of the final product. Once we have a look at it, we might think about displaying it somewhere in Chennai, for public viewing,” said an official.
Costly coaches
Each coach costs CMRL Rs. 9 crore. Chennai Metro Rail is expected to operate 42 trains in all, with four coaches each. The trains will have a total capacity of 1,276 persons. The seats will be by the windows on either side of the coach, with room for passengers to stand in between. In addition to this, space will be earmarked for wheelchair-users, officials said.
CMRL expects to have the metro rail operational along the elevated stretch from Koyambedu to St. Thomas Mount, part of corridor II of the mega project, in the first quarter of 2014.
Nine trains to arrive
A set of nine trains, which will actually ply as part of the Chennai Metro Rail service, will arrive in Chennai in April 2013. The remaining 33 trains, to be manufactured at Alstom’s unit in India, will be modelled on them, CMRL officials said.
Chennai Metro Rail is coming up at an estimated cost Rs. 14,600 crore. Currently, considerable work along the elevated stretch has been completed, and track-laying work is on. Paralleled, underground tunnelling work is in progress at different points along the stretch from Thirumangalam to Egmore — through Poonamallee High Road — and Washermanpet to Saidapet, covering almost all of Anna Salai.
Keywords: Metro Rail
We are making our own people, a billion plus. Why worry about making other things in India.
Any good things should always be welcomed and I well come new coaches whether made in
India or outside doesn't matter.
please look at the metros in cities like singapore ,bangkok etc all parts of city are connected by metro.
but our metro project lacks that. mixing mono rail and metro will not work. its high time metros are extended to all corners of city like urappakam on GST kelambakkam on omr and poonamallee on the west.
Maybe the Brazilians should sort out our roads and non existent pedestrian pathways
first by taking over the running of our Chennai Corporation as it is nothing but a
large dummy.
First have sufficient electricity for daily usage before introducing high-tech coaches.
@iyengar: Very well said, no way a disabled person can reach the metro station without help.
What is with Hindu reader's, they keep on posting negative comments. Either they don't understand how these projects are handled, for which we cannot fault them or our overzealous moderator deletes all comments which do not suit his or her taste!
Anyway, BEML can manufacture wagons, which manufactures them for Delhi Metro, and may even manufacture for Bangalore Metro. Rail coach manufacturing is restricted by Government laws and can be done only by Government Organsations. All our rail coaches are manufactured by Railways themselves and they do not have the expertise to manufacture Metro coaches.
Multinationals like Siemens and Alstom manufacture wagons and coaches. Siemens supplies rakes for Mumbai Suburban rails system, while it is mentioned in the article itself, that Alstom has a facility near Tada. And by the way all the facilities employ Indian's and they are not cheap coolies.
It is better readers understand the subject before posting comments.
Shame on our prideful 500+ engineering colleges and specially on IIT's.
why a product from brazil ? gone are those days when we use to
manufacture coaches for foreign nationals......
space will be earmarked for wheelchair-users - Ha ha!
9 out of 10 roads or more are unfit for the able bodied pedestrian. Let the corporation of chennai or PWD or the traffic police first ensure that the disabled and elderly are able to move ten paces on the city roads without falling into a pit or hitting a power distribution transformer or a telephone junction box.
How do they expect wheel chair users to reach the METRO in the first place.
Made in Brazil ? We cannot even make our own coaches anymore ? Shame on our educational system which has destroyed the potential of youngsters and converted them to cheap coolies for the BPO industry.
Please Email the Editor