Kolkata, May 26, 2024 

Two state-of-the-art Metro rakes from Dalian's stable have been shipped to Kolkata and reached Noapara Carshed today

Much to the delight of common people, Kolkata Metro's network has been expanding and is likely to be more than 100 km long by 2026. Two Public Sector Units (PSU) namely RVNL, KMRCL have been engaged in addition to Metro Railway's construction wing for the above capacity expansion. Metro Railway is also Asia’s fifth Metro network.

First 18 rakes of Kolkata Metro were built by Integral Coach Factory (ICF) a production unit under Ministry of Railways. It is worth mentioning that ICF is also the builder of the current sensational train set Vande Bharat. Initially ICF manufactured eighteen non-ac Metro rakes with DC propulsion system were inducted in Kolkata Metro's fleet. These eighteen non-ac rakes are no longer in use as they have expired their codal life.

After expansion of Corridor from Tollygunge to Kavi Subhas, ICF further built 13 ac rakes for Kolkata Metro with DC propulsion system from BHEL which were commissioned in between 2010 to 2013 one by one. For reducing headway to 5 minutes during peak hours, ICF produced another eighteen rakes of three-phase propulsion indigenously built with M/s Medha Servo Drives. These rakes were commissioned between 2019 to 2022 one by one. In April 2019 ICF built Metro Railway’s first rake with state-of- the-art, energy efficient three-phase propulsion drive, marking a new beginning and placing Metro Railway at par with the globally reputed Metros.

To meet the future requirements of upcoming new Corridors, ICF has already placed purchase orders on sub-assembly manufacturers and initiated rake production. By 2026 additional total 69 rakes with three-phase propulsion system will be built by ICF for Metro Railway Kolkata, stated Shri kausik Mitra, Chirf Public relations Officer, Metro Railway today.

The three-phase propulsion for 69 rakes has already been placed on Medha Servo Drives, BHEL and Zhuzhou. The rakes used by Metro Railway, Kolkata are unique in nature and not available anywhere in the world. The bogie-wheel set is meant for Broad Gauge but the coach body i.e. shell is of Meter Gauge. So by 2026, the holding of Broad Gauge rakes will increase from present 32 to 114. If the present 17 Standard Gauge (SG) rakes of Green Corridor are added then total holding of rakes would be 131 i.e. around three times increase. To accommodate additional holding of rakes a Depot at Joka has already been built. Another depot is also being built at Newtown – Rajarhat by RVNL which shall be a double Decker depot first of its kind in Indian Railways.

Out of 131 rakes in 2026, 117 rakes shall be indigenously manufactured BG rakes by ICF, Chennai and SG rakes by BEML Bengaluru, a Central Government PSU. Remaining 14 rakes will be procured from M/s Dalian Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co Ltd for which tender was floated in 2011-12. One such rake has already been in use. In addition to that, two new rakes from Dalian arrived at Noapara Shed today.

It is expected that remaining eleven rakes will be shipped to Kolkata Port within six months, Shri Mitra said.

These rakes are all air-conditioned rakes with three-phase propulsion drive manufactured by M/s Toshiba. Brake System and Door System have been provided by M/s Knorr Bremse. High Speed Circuit Breaker has been provided by M/s Secheron and PAPIS as well as CCTV of these rakes have been manufactured by M/s Suzhou Huaqui Intelligent. These 14 rakes will be under warranty of two years from the date of commissioning. These 14 rakes will be provided with CBTC signalling ATO mode in synchronisation of commissioning of CBTC signalling system in North-South Corridor for which more than Rs 400 crore have already been sanctioned and international consultant has also been engaged for system design. Giving safety highest priority, Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) will be installed in these rakes till CBTC is not in place.

Two rakes which have arrived will be subjected to inspection and rigorous testing at Noapara. Now the Third Rail Current Collector (TRCC) shoes, jumper cable, electrical couplers etc will be installed at Noapara Carshed before inspection is carried out. After successful inspection clearance, EIG inspection of rakes for electrical safety shall be carried out before 750 V DC is applied to the rake as per provision of Electricity Act.

These rakes' AC tonnage capacity has been increased by 16.7% with continuous ducting system and temperature control (first time in Kolkata Metro rake), for better controlled cooling including vestibule area that too without any water dropping possibility. New rakes have been provided with a wider emergency front evacuation door for better safety, wider driver desk for Motorman’s comfort, exterior is provided with an anti-dust feature which ensures better cleaning. CCTV cameras have also been provided with the capability of automatic 360-degree coverage in place of the existing 180-degree coverage. These rakes are equipped with light weight (650 kg) traction motors in place of existing 900 kg traction motors.

Improvement is a continuous process. Next Metro fleet after this series shall be equipped with more adorable features and ICF is planning to include the art of terracotta, an artistic specialty from Bengal in the interiors of Metro.

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SSS/26.5.24/…

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