Chennai (Metro Rail News): A major development has been waiting for Chennai Metro as the CMRL is gearing up to initiate the trials of the first three-coach driverless train in December 2024. After performing all the tests CMRL will deploy these driverless trains on Line-4 which spans from Light House to Poonamallee Bypass through 28 stations (18 elevated & 10 underground) under Phase 2.
The train has been manufactured by Alstom at their manufacturing plant the Sri City, located in Andhra Pradesh. On October 17, the train arrived from Sri City and reached Poonamalle, the depot facility for Phase 2.
Key Features of Driverless Trains:
The train sets manufactured by Alstom are designed with the maximum speed of 90 kmph and will be able to serve driverless operations.
The train-sets will be operated in formations of DMC+TC+DMC
- DMC = Driving Motor Car
- TC = Trailer Car.
The train will be 67.8 meters long and be capable of accommodating approximately 1000 passengers (crush load conditions).
Chennai Metro Phase 2
Chennai Metro Phase 2 consists of 3 corridors spanning 116.1 km in total. In 2019, the Tamil Nadu Government approved the Chennai Metro Phase 2 at an estimated cost of Rs. 69,180 crore.
| Line 3 ( Purple Line ) | Madhavaram station– SIPCOT 2 station | 45.4 km | Total no. of Stations: 49 |
| Line 4 ( Orange Line ) | Light House station – Poonamallee Bus Depot station | 26.09 km | Total No. of Stations: 28 |
| Line 5 ( Red Line ) | Madhavaram station – Sholinganallur station | 44.6 km | Total No. of Stations: 48 |
