CHENNAI (Metro Rail News): Chennai Metro Rail Limited has recently floated tenders to procure 70 driverless train-sets of three coaches each for Phase-2 of Chennai Metro.
Phase-2 of Chennai Metro consist of three lines covering a total of 118.9 km, these lines are – 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 fromMadhavaram to Sholinganallur (47 km, 46 stations).
The scope of work includes design, manufacture, supply, testing, commissioning of standard gauge Metro rolling stock (electric multiple units)(210 cars) and training of personnel. Duration of contract is 1850 days + 730 days (DNP). Date of Pre-bid meeting is 09 September 2021 and Technical bid will open on 23 November 2021.
As per tender notice, the trains must conform to Grade of Automation-4 (GoA4) standards for driverless operations. As per sources, when the Metro starts operation in Phase-2, Unattended Train Operation (UTO) or driverless operation will be the predominant mode of train operation. In case if CMRL does not engage the UTO for any reason, the train operator will be onboard to drive the train under ATO or Manual Mode.
Initially the plan is to have three coach trains and in future, it will be increased to six coach trains as the patronage for the metro train increases. A three coach train will have capacity to carry 980 commuters at a time while a six coach train could carry 1,970 commuters.
These trains can operate at top speed of 90 km per hour but will be allowed to operate at maximum speed of 80 km per hour.
As per tender, these coaches should include ventilation and air conditioning systems, rake’s front & rear end evacuation emergency detrainment doors. The vehicles should also include on board CCTV cameras and external CCTV cameras for security and emergency doorways monitoring.
Duration of contract is 1850 days + 730 days (DNP)….. is it DNP or DLP (Defect Liability Period)?