BENGALURU (Metro Rail News): Bengaluru Earth Movers Limited (BEML) delivered a six coach driverless train for Bengaluru Metro’s Blue Line corridor on Thursday. It is a major corridor that will connect the city’s busy Outer Ring Road (ORR). The company transported the train from its manufacturing facility in CV Raman Nagar to Byappanahalli depot using trailers.
Currently, the Blue Line depot is still under construction. According to Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) officials, they are going to keep the train at the Bay Line and start depot level testing. Once the work on the depot and corridor will get done, Officials will shift the train to its designated location. The Blue Line runs along the Outer Ring Road. It is one of Bengaluru’s busiest stretches, where several IT companies and business parks operate.
Five months of testing ahead
BMRCL will carry out detailed testing for at least 5 months before carrying the passengers. The trains comes with several new features including,
- LCD based animated route map displays
- Driverless operation capability
- Improved safety systems
BMRCL is also planning to install luggage racks in all Blue Line trains, but the first train does not include them. Officials have asked BEML to improve the rack design before installation in future train sets.
Work on Blue Line continues
Construction work on Bengaluru Metro’s Blue Line is still going on. The 18 km elevated section between Central Silk Board and KR Pura is expected to finish by December 2026. The corridor will serve one of Bengaluru’s most crowded traffic routes. It could help in reducing the travel time of thousands of daily commuters.
Pink Line moves closer to launch
BEML has also supplied six train sets for the Pink Line as well. BMRCL is planning to start services on the 7.5 km elevated section between Kalena Agrahara and Tavarekere by August 15. At the same time, construction teams are still working on the remaining 13.7 km underground section between Dairy Circle and Nagawara. Officials are expecting to complete that section by December 2026.
The Blue and Pink lines will use the Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling system just like the Yellow Line, which runs between RV Road and Bommasandra. This technology allows trains to operate with a high level of automation. BMRCL is planning to introduce fully automated driverless operations on both corridors at the later stage. It is known as Grade of Automation 4 (GoA-4).Even after driverless services begin, train operators will initially remain onboard. Metro officials said that they want to ensure the system performs reliably and give passengers time to become comfortable with driverless travel. The arrival of the first Blue Line train shows that Bengaluru Metro is moving closer to its next phase of expansion.
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