First driverless, Chinese train for Namma Metro arrives in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: The first-ever driverless train for Namma Metro arrived at the Hebbagodi depot near Electronics City in southern Bengaluru in the early hours of Wednesday, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) said.

The six-coach prototype trainset will be used to conduct trial runs on the 19.15-km Yellow Line, which will connect RV Road with Bommasandra via Jayadeva Hospital, Silk Board Junction and Electronics City.

The train has been manufactured by China’s state-owned CRRC Nanjing Puzhen Co Ltd, which won a Rs 1,578-crore contract in 2019 to supply 216 coaches to the BMRCL.

The train left China on January 24 and docked into the Chennai port on February 6. Unloading and customs clearance took several more days thereafter before the train was put on trailers for its road journey to Bengaluru.

At the Hebbagodi depot, the coaches will be coupled under the supervision of Chinese engineers.

This will be followed by 32 different tests, including 8-10 static tests, several dynamic tests, 15 tests on the mainline and 7-8 interface tests. The tests on the mainline will include oscillation tests under the supervision of the Lucknow-based Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO), BMRCL officials said.

“The test results will be submitted to the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety (CCRS) and then to the Railway Board for technical sanction,” one of the officials said. “The whole process will take five to six months.”

Five Chinese nationals have received visas to visit Bengaluru to supervise the assembly and testing of the prototype train. Another 10 could get the visas by February-end. They will supervise testing and other procedures.

Civil and track-laying works on the Yellow Line have long been completed, but statutory trial runs couldn’t begin because no coaches were available.

CRRC won the contract because its bid was far lower (Rs 7.31 crore per coach) than that quoted by the Bengaluru-headquartered PSU BEML (Rs 9.28 crore/coach).

Another reason for picking the Chinese company was because its coaches have very good electronics that “India will need years to catch up”, according to a senior BMRCL official.

CRRC, however, struggled to find a local partner to manufacture 208 coaches as part of the contract. Even though it eventually tied up with the Bengal-based Titagarh Wagons Limited, India’s cold relations with China further delayed the plans.

The BMRCL expects to receive two more trains by May and two trains every month afterwards. It needs eight trains to start the Yellow Line, which will likely happen in the third quarter of 2024.