Chennai (Metro Rail News): As the Lighthouse-Poonamallee bypass corridor’s phase-2 network takes shape, numerous companies have begun bidding for electrification and the production of driverless trains that can operate on the corridor.
After CMRL opened technical bids earlier this week, three companies were announced as bidders for manufacturing 26 three-car driverless trains or 78 coaches to be operated on the corridor: Alstom Transport, BEML, and Titagarh Wagons.
Seven companies had also filed bids for the installation of overhead equipment (OHE), which is required to power trains on the route and at the Poonamallee depot. There are 30 stations on the 26.1-kilometre Lighthouse to Poonamallee bypass, including 13 underground stations.
An official said, “The plan is to open the elevated section from Power House to Poonamallee bypass first by 2025 and maintain the train fleet at the Poonamallee depot while opening the rest of the corridors in a few months.”
CMRL has already awarded the contract for laying tracks on the corridor. However, officials claimed that when the technical bids are evaluated, and financial bids are opened to disclose the lowest bidder, the contractor for train manufacturing and electrification work would be chosen.
According to officials, the elevated corridor on the Porur-Poonamallee bypass segment is nearly complete, with pillars placed in the middle of the Mount-Poonamallee Road over a distance of about 3 kilometres. The casting of viaducts that will be installed on the pillars to support ballast-less rails has also begun in the casting yards,
On Saturday, the municipal traffic police said construction work for the project would be diverted from the Chennai bypass junction to Kumananchavadi junction. When the 26.1 KM corridor opens to the public, metro trains will connect the city’s central areas, such as Mylapore, Nandanam, T Nagar, Kodambakkam, and Vadapalani, with the city’s west developing suburbs, such as Porur, Iyyappanthangal, Kumanan Chavadi, and the Poonamallee bypass, which are currently underserved by public transportation.
