A consortium of Hitachi Rail STS SPA and Hitachi Rail STS India Private Limited has been awarded the signalling contract for the phase II project of Chennai Metro Rail at a value of Rs 1,620 crore. Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) said this is the largest signalling tender to be executed by it, and the contractor will have to design, manufacture, supply, install, and commission the signalling, train control and video management system.
A press release stated that the new system, called communication-based train control (CBTC), will enable automatic train operation without requirement of any operators. The trains will be able to run with a minimum frequency of 90 seconds in the new system unlike the phase I project.
Besides driverless operations, the system will integrate other aspects like automatic train movement at the depot, functioning of platform screen doors and passenger information and display systems. “This system enables real time streaming of video for management, monitoring and control from a centralised operation control centre (OCC),” the release said.
To ensure the safety of passengers on these driverless trains, there will be intensive testing for several parameters. The system will be certified by an independent safety assessment team, and it will be in accordance with international standards, the release stated.
Post clearance, the trains will again be subjected to field trials for integration with the rest of the systems. Subsequently, a team of officials from the Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety will conduct an inspection and give the final approval.
Last month, French multinational rolling stock manufacturer Alstom was awarded a contract worth Rs 798 crore to design, manufacture, supply, test, and commission 78 advanced metro coaches by the CMRL.
The Chennai Metro phase 2 project with a total distance of 118.9 km was approved by the Tamil Nadu government in 2019 at an estimated cost of Rs 69,180 crore. However, the cost has been revised down to Rs 61,843 crore by reducing station sizes, as per a report in Financial Express.