Chennai Metro to Procure 288 and Lease 126 Coaches for Phase 2
As per a new procurement projection document on Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL)’s website, the operator is looking to procure 288 coaches and wet-lease 126 coaches to run services on the 118.9 km Chennai Metro Phase 2 project’s 3 lines.
The projection requirements call for Phase 2’s rolling stock to be sourced in 3 categories for a grand total of 414 coaches (138 train-sets of 3 coaches). These train-sets will be stabled and maintained at Madhavaram (Line-3 & 5’s depot), SIPCOT (Line-3’s 2nd depot) and Poonamallee (Line-4’s depot).
CATEGORY 1: 3 Car Rolling stock for Priority corridor section of Corridor 3 (Madhavaram – Sholinganallur) and Corridor 5 (Madhavaram – CMBT)
- Requirement: 210 Coaches
- Description: 3 coach trains with 67% traction were proposed in DPR for operation in elevated and UG sections of all three corridors of CMRL phase 2 and operated with 25 KV power supply. These coaches shall be procured with JICA tied loan.
CATEGORY 2: 3 Car Rolling stock for Corridor 4 (Lighthouse – Poonamallee Bypass)
- Requirement: 78 Coaches
- Description: 3 coach trains with 67% traction were proposed in DPR for operation in elevated and UG sections of all three corridors of CMRL phase 2 and operated with 25 KV power supply. These coaches shall be procured in International Competitive Bidding (ICB).
CATEGORY 3: 3 Car Rolling stock for balance section of Corridor 5 (CMBT – Sholinganallur) and Corridor 3 ( Sholinganallur – SIPCOT 2)
- Requirement: 126 coaches
- Description: 3 coach trains with 67% traction were proposed in DPR
for operation in elevated and UG sections of all three corridors of CMRL phase 2 and operated with 25 KV power supply. These coaches shall be procured with leasing option for this section.
To summarize:
| Line | Coaches to be Procured | Coaches to be Leased |
| 3 & 5 | 210 | 126 |
| 4 | 78 | 0 |
A 52.01 km section of Chennai Metro’s Line-5 (Madhavaram – CMBT) and Line-3 (Madhavaram – Sholinganallur) termed as ‘priority corridors’ will be financed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and there’s a possibility that only Japanese rolling stock manufacturers or joint-ventures with Japanese firms will be allowed to participate in the bidding process.
Tenders/bids for the construction of Line-3’s tunneling works were invited in January 2020 and are currently planned to be opened in early July. After that is wrapped up, CMRL will shift focus to the systems (rolling stock, signalling etc.) side of things.
The civil construction of the 26.1 km Line-4 connecting Lighthouse – Poonamallee Bypass will be financed by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), but its rolling stock will be financed by a different unannounced bank along with the Government of Tamil Nadu. Bidding to appoint Line-4’s General Consultant is currently underway.
Back in 2017, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was looking to lease 150 coaches for its Green Line, but nothing constructive came out of that so it’ll be interesting how the wet leasing of trains, their operations & maintenance is handled, and plays out in Chennai as this is something that has never been tried before in India.
For more updates, check out the Chennai section of The Metro Rail Guy!
– TMRG
Hat tip to Sreejith & CrazyGuru at SSC
According to the original DPR, the phase 2 was supposed to have 88 kms Underground out of 118 kms. but after the DPR was revised to deduct the construction cost, they decided to convert huge percentage of underground into elevated,we don’t know how long they will make underground and how long they will make elevated. Please tell us about this to clear this confusion.
The Phase 2 page has a breakdown of elevated vs underground lengths for each line: https://themetrorailguy.com/chennai-metro-phase-2-information-map/
I could not see the procurement plan for works part. As of now, only tunneling works tender is out. There are station works, Elevated works, for which tenders are not out yet. Could you suggest when are those expected?
I don’t have a timeframe. Tender notices usually depend on when funds are tied up and the lead-financer gives approval to publish.
Any idea of contracting companies who are potentially bidding for phase 2 ?
Nope, but we shall soon find out in July if they don’t extend bidding schedule again.