BMRCL to Procure 16 New 6-Coach Trains for Purple & Green Lines
Last week, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. invited bids for commissioning a new communications system for the four new extensions, totaling 33.352 km, of the city’s operational Phase 1 lines under the 73.95 km Phase 2 project. Deep within the ‘Brief Scope of Work’ tender document, they’ve mentioned their intention to procure an additional 16 new 6-coach metro trains for the Purple & Green lines on top of the 150 new coaches currently being manufactured by BEML to convert the existing 50 3-coach trains into 6-coaches.
Relevant excerpts –
a. All the 50 numbers of 3 car trains of Phase-I will be converted into 6 car consists by the addition of 2 Motor Cars and 1 Trailer Car. The contractor shall carry out testing of on-board works for conversion from 3 cars to 6 car trains consists, and commission trains as and when the conversion of 6 cars trains consists are completed.
b. Provision of On Board communication equipment and associated accessories in new 16 nos. of 6 car train sets. BMRCL has planned to procure 16 nos. of new 6 cars train sets which have to be operationalized in the existing lines and extensions for which On Board Communication works shall be done under the Scope of the contract No. 5 S&T (Tele)-DM.
The notice inviting bids for the signalling system published in August also mentions this –
50 nos. of 3 car trains procured under Phase I will be converted into 6 car train consists (DMC+TC+MC+MC+TC+DMC) by augmenting with additional cars. Sixteen (16) no of new trains (6 car consists) will be separately procured for which on Board ATC equipment will have to be commissioned and all trains tested to run on the entire Line 1 or Line 2 including extensions.
The four extensions mentioned above are all under construction and include:
• Line-1 (Purple Line) eastern extension from Baiyyappanahalli to Whitefield (15.217 km)
• Line-1 (Purple Line) western extension from Mysore Road to Challeghata (8.814 km)
• Line-2 (Green Line) northern extension from Nagasandra to BIEC (3.03 km)
• Line-2 (Green Line) southern extension from Yelachenahalli to Anjanapura Township (6.29 km)
A map displaying the above extensions and a list of assigned civil contractors can be viewed here.
BEML trains on Bangalore’s Purple Line – Photo Copyright: Mitsubishi Electric
This upcoming order for new trains on the expanded network is along expected lines, and an accurate count of the new trains will emerge only when the BMRCL invites bids from rolling stock manufacturers after securing funding through the state government or an external lender.
If this 16 number holds up to be true, then Bangalore Metro’s fleet for the 75.42 km Purple and Green lines will consist of 66 trains of 6 coaches by 2021-22. While the induction of 6-coach trains will provide much needed capacity per train right away, train frequency will still remain inadequate, in fact worsen, as the combined route length will go up by 79% from 42.10 km to 75.42 km, but the number of trains will go up by only 32% from 50 to 66.
For more updates, check out the Bangalore section of The Metro Rail Guy!
– TMRG
Is funds alone the problem, then there are billion Indians who have paid there taxes, where did it all go ???? Else govt can go for cheap infrastructure loans from other countries in the world
Hi TMRG can you please explain? If bmrcl changes cantonment metro station’s alignment to it’s original location due to public pressure??? So does they need to re invite civil bids or not???
Since tendering is underway, they’ll have to issue a corrigendum document with supporting design changes. The last date to submit bids has already been extended to October 23, and if the location is changed to its original location, then the last date to submit bids will be further extended out – leading to more delays.
It’s a lot easier to finish the bidding process as-is and then negotiate changes with the lowest bidder rather than making design changes midway. I believe BMRCL will pursue this route if any changes take place.
Was is it not woeful shortsightedness that lead to inital procurement of only 3 coach trains when the demand for metro was expected to pickup with more meaningful length of connections in Purple and Green lines as end of Phase 1 was nearing ? Now there has to be many months of struggle for the commuting public, who are not paying a small amount for commuting, to make do with 3 coach trains, particularly in peak hours. Why not atleast make the additions of coaches to trains modular and flexible, which is what I thought Delhi Metro has done.
The contract for supplying additional 150 coaches has already been given in March 2017. The problem is with the capacity of BEML to deliver those coaches. They have a huge wait period and they will deliver coaches only from December next year. They will supply some coaches in 2018, but those will not be meaningful in number.
Sorry but do not find that to explain. Why place an order only in March 2017 when the date of extension in Green line was known and passenger numbers in Purple line were available. Also, was the bottleneck at BEML not known or anticipated and why not approach other suppliers who can provide at the earliest and comparable cost ? In everything from parking lots at stations, to length of trains, to last mile connectivity at stations, Namma Metro seems to have fallen into the trap of thinking small and acting too late and not thinking in terms of solving the city’s commuting problem. Ultimately, it is the commuting public who will bear the brunt.
They are again committing a mistake by not ordering enough trains. If the length is increased by 80%, then to maintain the same frequency, the number of trains should also be increased by the same percentage. Currently, they are running trains at a 4 minute frequency during peak hours, which is not great by any standard. Reduced frequency will only cause extra trouble for passengers.
I read few days back that additional coaches will arrive only by end of 2018.
I am using the metro daily from Yelchenahalli to Bypanahalli changing trains at majestic. The crowd in around majestic and other underground stations in peak hours is too high and this 3 coach trains are absolutely inadequate.I am travelling with other passengers like cows/buffalos packed in trucks.
Problem with bangalore is though it is a city of hi-tech startups and highly talented professionals , the city is run by half educated or uneducated people who have no planning no vision.
So, now the situation is you can not drive on the road neither you can travel in a decent way in the metro!!
Useless guys at BMRCL have screwd up citizens. Daily travellers are suffering it has become worst than Mumbai local train. BMRCL is giving difict services . To be honest they should charge only half till you get add new coaches and improve quantity of service and ride