DMRC Signs MoU with CRRC to Supply Noida Metro’s 76 Coaches
Two months after opening the financial bids, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation on March 17 signed a memorandum of understanding with the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation to supply 19 four-car trainsets for the 30 km Noida Metro project! I was recently told that the delay was due to a bank guarantee issue which is perhaps why a ‘memorandum of understanding’ has been signed to keep the project on track and not a ‘contract’.
As per the MoU, CRRC will begin supplying the trains from June 2017 from their Nanjing facility from where they supplied 64 coaches for Mumbai’s Metro. The MoU also includes a provision for ordering additional coaches to extend the trains to six coaches if required.
This is CRRC’s 4th metro project in the country. See a list of CRRC’s other Indian projects. Outside of India, the Chicago Transit Authority’s board recently voted to award CRRC with a contract to supply 846 metro cars from a new manufacturing facility based in Chicago.
Alignment of the Noida – Gr. Noida Metro line
The 30.016 km metro line with 22 stations begins at Sector 71 in Noida and terminates at the Depot station in Greater Noida. In its next phase, it will be extended to sector Knowledge Park V. For recent construction images, see the Noida section or check out the media section my Twitter handle.
DMRC had initially specified three-car trains in their first notice inviting tenders, but with no bidders and a revised ridership they re-invited tenders for procuring four-car trains. The second time around, 3 firms put in their bids which included CRRC, Alstom India and BEML. Although the new tender specifies a 114 week turnaround for supplying all train-sets, officials from the DMRC and NMRC hope to receive all trains by the planned launch date of November 2016.
As per a DMRC offficial who interviewed with The Hindustan Times:
Each train will have four coaches, which means that we will have a total 76 coaches. A train can accommodate 1,034 passengers at one go. We have asked the agency to start designing the trains right away and deliver the same as soon as possible. Many agencies applied for the project but the Chinese agency submitted the lowest bid.
In contradicting news (which comes aplenty) published by The Times of India:
The proposed design for the Metro coaches has already been approved by Rama Raman, chairperson, of the three authorities of Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway areas. The coaches would be state-of-the art and laced with modern technology. A model of the coach has been readied and approved, said NMRC officials.
Either way, the project is on!
For more updates on Noida’s Metro, check out the Noida & Gr. Noida section of the The Metro Rail Guy!
– TMRG
Great! I’ve ridden on both Mumbai and Gurgaon metros and the ride is no different from any other company’s trains.
Except that MM1 trains leaked heavily during the 2014 monsoons. Search for “Mumbai Metro Rain Showers” on youtube. They plugged it and no problems were reported in 2015.
Just stumbled upon this bit of news reported by Tom Mitchell which appeared today (7.7.16 or perhaps 6.7.16 due to time zone) in financial times stating that Singapore returns 26 faulty metro trains to China for repair after discovering cracks in the structure linking the car body to the undercarriage. These trains were made by CRRC, same company who will be supplying to NMRC.
Guess the lowest bidders of the tenders also do deliver lowest quality products!
Hi, that’s quite unfortunate. Cracks have also recently appeared on Philadelphia’s new trains supplied by Hyundai-Rotem – see this article. Hoping NMRC and DMRC take note of Singapore’s news and ensure that no issues arise in Noida’s trains.