The sixth Yellow Line train — supplied by Bengal-based TRSL — at the Hebbagodi depot.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: BEML will supply six driverless trainsets for Namma Metro's Yellow Line under a new Rs 414-crore order.
This is the second variation order to the BEML's August 2023 contract to supply 53 trainsets for Namma Metro.
The base order — valued at Rs 3,177 crore — was the largest in Namma Metro's history. That required BEML to supply 53 trainsets (318 coaches). Of those, 37 trains were for the Blue Line and 16 for the Pink Line.
In March, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) issued the variation order to supply seven more Pink Line trains for Rs 405 crore.
A variation order allows changes to an existing contract — including design or specifications, quantities, timelines and costs.
All orders include comprehensive train maintenance for up to 15 years.
The second variation order is the costliest. The BMRCL will pay Rs 11.5 crore per coach, compared with Rs 9.99 crore in the base order and Rs 9.64 crore in the first variation order.
In total, BEML will now supply 66 trains (396 coaches) for Namma Metro. It has already supplied 57 trains on the Purple and Green lines.
Designed and developed in Bengaluru, the new coaches will be made from high-tensile Austenitic stainless steel and equipped with two roof-mounted saloon air-conditioners, IP-based passenger announcement and information systems, a Passenger Saloon Surveillance System for enhanced onboard security, LCD-based dynamic route maps and electrically operated automatic doors synchronised with platform screen doors, BEML said.
In December 2019, the BMRCL had awarded a Rs 1,578-crore contract to China's CRRC Nanjing Puzhen Co Ltd to supply 36 trainsets — 15 for the Yellow Line and 21 for the Purple and Green lines — in 173 weeks. But the firm struggled to make trains in India and later partnered with the Bengal-based Titagarh Rail Systems Limited (TRSL).
So far, CRRC-TRSL has delivered only six Yellow Line trains.
Given the Yellow Lines' high ridership, the BMRCL turned to BEML for additional trains.
While Pink and Blue Line trains will interface with Alstom's signalling system, Yellow Line trains will run on Siemens signaling.
BEML is expected to supplying Yellow Line trains only after fulfilling the orders for Pink and Blue lines — a process that could start only in 2027.
BEML has also struggled to supply trains. The Pink Line prototype, due in June 2025, has been pushed to December due to unavailability of major equipment and delay in type tests.