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Confident of supplying 2 driverless trains a month for Bengaluru Metro's Yellow Line from August: Titagarh
Titagarh Rail Systems Limited (TRSL), which designs and manufactures driverless trains for Bengaluru Metro's Yellow Line (Electronic City) corridor, has said it will deliver its fourth train in July and two trains a month from August.
Speaking to TRSL Deputy Managing Director Prithish Chowdhary said, 'We will be delivering the fourth train next month and two trains every month from August to BMRCL (Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited). We are very confident in our strength and capabilities. Our team is geared up, and we see no challenges in manufacturing as of now.'
Initially set to be commissioned in 2021, the 18-km Yellow Line, connecting RV Road and Bommasandra via Electronic City, is marred by a rolling-stock supply crisis, leading to extensive delays. The coaches for the driverless Bengaluru Metro are manufactured by Chinese firm CRRC Nanjing Puzhen Co Ltd, along with TRSL, as part of the Make-in-India Initiative. The Chinese firm won a Rs 1,578-crore contract in 2019 to supply 216 coaches to BMRCL.
Major challenges included visa processing for Chinese engineers in view of the Galwan valley clash, supply-chain disruptions of raw materials due to the Covid pandemic, and the adoption of new technology by Indian engineers.
Explaining the reason for delay, Vijay Subramanian, CEO, Passenger Rolling Stock, TRSL, said, 'Learning gap is now history. It was more of a teething problem initially. Our technology partners were CRRC, and all procurement and resourcing came from China. We were doing complete assembly here under CRRC's supervision. We also faced difficulties bringing CRRC people from China and commissioning engineers from Korean companies due to visa issues. We lost a lot of time, but now all problems are resolved. We have a huge contingent of CRRC people (55 Chinese engineers) at TRSL today, and we are almost in a serial mode of production.'
Further, company officials also attributed the delay to inspections undertaken by internal safety and quality control teams as well as CRRC and BMRCL officials before dispatching the coaches for delivery. The coaches are being designed and built to be operational for the next 35 years. Additionally, the coaches also undergo various safety and quality control tests before commissioning. It includes static, dynamic, and mainline testing involving integration of technology, synchronisation of the technology with the metro systems and trial runs on the mainline, before throwing up the line for revenue services.
For the production infrastructure of Bengaluru Metro, TRSL also set aside an outlay of over Rs 1,000 crore, of which a large part has already been spent. 'We (Titagarh) had experience making aluminum coaches, which is more complex than stainless steel, so we proved our capability. Discussions with CRRC led to a strong partnership. We invested heavily in setting up the stainless steel line, robotics, jigs, fixtures, and training. About Rs 1,000 crore is the total capital outlay between 2022 and 2027, with a large part already spent,' Chowdhary said.
On working with CRRC, Subramanian said, 'The key learning was the stainless steel process, robotic line, and setting up facilities using CRRC's expertise. As the world's largest rolling-stock manufacturer, CRRC's decades of knowledge were invaluable. We leveraged their insights to establish our facilities.'
Meanwhile, BMRCL is also contemplating commissioning the line with the already delivered three train sets at 30-minute intervals with stops at certain stations. 'However, the operations across all 16 stations on the Yellow Line are expected between August and September, pending the delivery of additional driverless train sets and final safety approvals from the Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety,' said a BMRCL official.
Sanath Prasad is a senior sub-editor and reporter with the Bengaluru bureau of Indian Express. He covers education, transport, infrastructure and trends and issues integral to Bengaluru. He holds more than two years of reporting experience in Karnataka. His major works include the impact of Hijab ban on Muslim girls in Karnataka, tracing the lives of the victims of Kerala cannibalism, exploring the trends in dairy market of Karnataka in the aftermath of Amul-Nandini controversy, and Karnataka State Elections among others. If he is not writing, he keeps himself engaged with badminton, swimming, and loves exploring. ... Read More
