French transport company Alstom has obtained ₹1,538 crores (€135 million) contract from Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) for its Phase 2 metro expansion. (image:alstom.com/)
Tamil Nadu: Chennai will get its first driverless metro train by February 2027. French transport company Alstom has obtained ₹1,538 crores (€135 million) contract from Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) for its Phase 2 metro expansion.
A release from the CMRL said that Letter of Acceptance (LOA) was issued to the company on April 28.
The contract agreement was signed by Manoj Goyal, Director (Systems & Operations) for CMRL and Parag Nandlal Gohel, Customer Director (South) for Alstom.
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As per this contract, Alstom will supply 32 fully automated three-car trains – 96 coaches in total. The deal includes the design, manufacture, supply, testing, and commissioning.
Besides, the company will provide 15 years of comprehensive maintenance services. The maintenance will include cleaning, obsolescence management, and upkeep of plant and machinery at the depot.
These driverless trains will undergo detailed testing at CMRL’s facilities for 14 months. The assessment involves integration testing with other systems and service trials. The remaining trains will be delivered in phases from September 2027 through May 2028. The trains will be manufactured at Alstom’s facility in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh.
“This is the third and final rolling stock package under Phase 2,” CMRL said in a statement.
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“This new contract strengthens our association with CMRL in helping modernise Chennai’s urban rail mobility landscape,” Economic Times quoted, Olivier Loison, Managing Director, Alstom India as saying.
Alstom is currently undertaking 108 driverless Metropolis cars for another section of Phase II. With its first contract with CMRL in 2010, the company has delivered 208 metro cars for Phase I.
