Chennai's first metro train to arrive in June

Chennai city is all set to receive its first Metro Rail train from Brazil, in the first week of June. Four cars of the train have been shipped from Brazil and are en-route to Chennai Port. Officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) said the train was shipped from Brazil during the last week of April. Officials said that, it will reach Chennai by the end of May or first week of June. From the port, the cars will be transported via a trailer to the depot in Koyambedu.

The four cars will then be assembled and a four-month long testing process will begin. A test track is now being prepared in Koyambedu. This was the first train for Chennai manufactured at Alstom Transport’s plant in Lapa, Sao Paulo. The company has signed a contract to supply 42 trains to CMRL. A total of nine trains are being manufactured in Brazil, while the other 33 trains will be manufactured at Sri City plant, Alstom’s first rolling stock factory in India, located in Andhra Pradesh. The other eight trains will be completed and sent from Brazil in phases, the official said.

According to Alstom Transport, the four-car stainless steel train features electrically-operated automatic sliding doors, a large gangway, air-conditioning, dedicated space for passengers with reduced mobility, a route map in English and Tamil, LED displays and announcements as well as luggage racks. The four-car train will have a total seating and standing capacity of 1,276. On an average, each car will have 44 seats including dedicated seats for persons with disabilities and senior citizens. Work on laying the track and electrical work will soon be completed for the test run, which will be conducted on the elevated Koyambedu–St. Thomas Mount line as and when each portion is completed.

The Research Designs and Standards Organisation will also certify the trains before they are commissioned. The government had announced in the State assembly that the first Metro line would be commissioned in mid-2014.

Chennai’s Metro Rail project consists of two corridors:

v     23.1 km line from Washermenpet to the airport

v     22 km line from Chennai Central to St. Thomas Mount