Even as the Covid-19 pandemic has derailed two Metro corridor projects by six months, Mumbai may soon get the first set of the rolling stock in December.
Officials from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is executing the Metro master plan, confirmed that a set of six coaches will be in the city on December 11. The first set of trains will be housed at the Charkop depot.
MMRDA had awarded the contract of rolling stock to Bengaluru-based Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML). Last week, BEML had issued tenders for transportation of metro coaches from its Bengaluru unit to Mumbai via hydraulic trailers.
RA Rajeev, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA said, “We will be receiving 378 coaches in different batches. The first train set of six coaches is likely to be delivered on December 11. By April 2021, we will be having 10 train sets in Mumbai.’’ The commissioner had recently visited the production unit to inspect the progress of the coaches.
According to the tentative schedule released by BEML on its website, set of six coaches will be dispatched in November and December, followed by 12 cars in January 2021. Following this, 18 cars will be delivered each month.
While Metro-2A (Dahisar-DN Nagar) and Metro-7 (Dahisar E-Andheri E) had to be made operational by December, MMRDA has revised the deadline by six months owing to delays caused by the lockdown. The two projects are now likely to be operational by May 2021.
The coaches will be light-weight, energy-efficient and fully air-conditioned. The features will also enable driverless options. The trains will also have seats for the specially-abled, space for a cycle and charging points for mobile and laptops.