KMRC Invites Bids to Install Platform Screen Doors

Roughly 7 years after beginning construction on the new East-West line from Howrah Maidan to Salt Lake Sector V, the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation has invited bids from companies to install Platform Screen Doors at its stations! This move comes just a couple months after the resolution of all land acquisition issues on this line that had kept the KMRC busy.

Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL) is calling tender for Full Height Platform Screen Doors (PSD) / Half Height Semi-outdoor type Platform Screen Gates Equipment (PSG) & System Design / Manufacturing Companies, for the Detailed Design, Detailed Engineering, Manufacture, Supply, Delivery and Storage at site, Laying, Installation, Testing, Commissioning and Demonstration of the performance of the system and equipment and Training of Personnel as detailed under the scope of work of this tender document for Underground and Elevated System of Kolkata Metro East-West Rail Project. – Link to Notice

Map of Kolkata’s East-West metro line – View detailed Kolkata Metro information & map

The pre-bid meeting with interested companies will be held on February 29 2016 and the last date for submission of the tender documents for bidding is 3 pm on April 11. On the same day, the tenders will be opened & the bids will be evaluated to find out the lowest bidder for installing the PSDs. The winning company will be given an entire 150 weeks to complete work – that’s roughly 3 years and an indication of when the line in its entirety can be expected to open.

Interestingly the notice also includes the new revised length of the line after it got realigned in 2015:

The KOLKATA Metro Rail Corporation Limited’s (KMRCL) East-West Line system is on 750 volts DC third rail over a length of 16.34 Km (Approx.). It is partly Elevated (5.77 K.M) and partly Underground (10.54 K.M.) construction.

It was earlier envisioned to be 14.67 km long, but due alignment issues in central Kolkata, a new alignment had to be drawn which included moving the interchange station with the existing metro line from Central to Esplanade station.

Kolkata will be the third city after Chennai (u/c) & Delhi to commission PSDs in the country. Full-height PSDs are already in operation at all 6 stations of Delhi’s 22.7 km Airport Express line and half-height PSDs are currently being installed at 6 key stations on the Yellow line (see images) by a JV of NRT-Stone India. In addition, all stations on the upcoming 58.596 km Pink and 38.235 km Magenta lines will also feature half height PSDs. The 3 contracts to install them valued at Rs 131.32 crores, Rs 98.71 crores and Rs 312.11 crores were given to a Japanese-Indian consoritum of KTK – AIKON in May 2015.

Platform Screen Doors on Delhi’s Airport Exp line – Photo Copyright: Newkem

As a reminder, if no new issues arise with Kolkata’s east-west line, then testing on the line’s primarily elevated 1st phase from Sector V to Phoolbagan is expected to commence in Q3 2017 and open for commercial operations in Q3 2018. Followed by that, the 2nd phase from Phoolbagan to Howrah is expected to start commercial operations in Q3 2019.

For more updates on Kolkata’s Metro, check out the Kolkata section of The Metro Rail Guy!

– TMRG