Four firms pitch for tender to supply 72 new coaches

Four firms participated in the tender called to supply 72 new coaches for Namma Metro’s 73-km Phase II project, a part of which is nearing completion.

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) had floated the tenders in April this year as a back-up plan after the China-based CRRC failed to supply 216 coaches as per the schedule.

The 12 trains, each comprising six cars, are expected to be deployed on the RV Road-Bommasandra (Reach 5) stretch. The 19-km line, according to officials, will be ready for commercial run by June 2023, an ambitious target, going by the slow work near Central Silk Board and Jayadeva interchange station.

The four companies — that participated in the tender are — BEML Ltd, Alstom Transport, Mitsubishi Electric and Titagarh Wagons Ltd. All these firms carry an experience of supplying coaches to different Metro corporations across the country. The successful bidder gets four-and-half-years to supply the coaches. Currently, the technical evaluation of these bids is on.

Meanwhile, uncertainty looms over the supply of 216 cars for which tenders were awarded to the Chinese firm, CRRC, in December 2019. As per the agreement, the company was expected to manufacture a majority of the trains in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh as per the ‘Make in India’ policy of the Union government. There has been a delay on the part of CRRC to supply the coaches. Officials said the company has offered to tie up with a Kolkata-based firm but the BMRCL is yet to give its nod.

Metro Reach 5: Target set for July 2023

The BMRCL is planning to complete a majority of the civil works, including at the Central Silk Board and Jayadeva interchange stations by September. This is likely to provide space for taking up track, signalling and telecommunication work. Officials have set a target to complete the work by July, 2023.

As per the Metro’s recent newsletter, close to 99 per cent of the civil work has been completed between Bommasandra and Bommanahalli. It was awarded to ITD Cementation India in April, 2017. The remaining portion - HSR Layout to RV Road - has achieved only 93 per cent of the work, although the contract was awarded at the same time but to a different