The trial run of the much anticipated Indore Metro rail project moved one step closer with the arrival of the first Metro trainset in the city on Thursday (31 August) night.
Built in record time of fourteen-and-a-half months from its notice to proceed, the three-coach trainset left for Indore on 23 August from Alstom’s facility at Savli in Gujarat.
The train was put on tracks at the Gandhi Nagar Depot on Thursday morning after Shankar Lalwani, the BJP MP from Indore, broke a coconut as per the tradition at the railroad depot where the cars were unloaded.
Officials with the first metro trainset.
Earlier on 26 August, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had announced that the trial run for Bhopal and Indore Metro rail will start in September this year, with operations expected to commence by April- May next year.
Both the Metro Rail projects are being administered and managed by Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Company Limited, which is a 50:50 joint venture between the centre and the state government.
Indore Metro
In October 2018, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had approved the implementation of Indore Metro Rail Project to connect major public nodes and city cluster areas of Indore.
The 31.3-km-long Yellow Line has a 8.7-km underground section with seven stations — Indore Railway Station, Rajwada, Chhota Ganapati, Bada Ganapati, Ramchandra Nagar, Kalani Nagar and Airport.
The Yellow Line has 21 elevated stations — Gandhi Nagar, Super Corridor-6,5,4,3,2,1, Bhawar Kuan Square, MR-10, ISBT, Chandragupta Square, Heera Nagar, Bapat Square, Meghdoot Garden, Vijay Nagar Square, Malviya Nagar Square, Shaheed Bagh, Khajrana, Bengali Square, Journalist Colony and Palasia.
The estimated cost of the project is Rs 7,500.80 crore and efforts are underway to open a 5.9-kilometre route from Gandhi Nagar to Super Corridor-3 with five stations by June 2024, with trial run starting by September 2023.
Three-Coach Trainsets
The Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Limited, in July 2022, had awarded a combined contract to Alstom to design, build and commission 52 standard gauge Movia metro passenger trainsets of three-car configuration each, for Bhopal and Indore metro projects, with 15 years of comprehensive maintenance.
27 of the three-car configuration trainsets, will be for Bhopal while 25 trainsets will be for Indore.
These ultramodern, light-weight trains will operate at a top speed of 80 kmph and will have a 50-passenger seating and 300 standing capacity.
Valued at €387 million (over Rs 3,200 crore), the order includes installation of latest generation of communications-based train control signalling system as well as, train control and telecommunication systems; each with seven years of comprehensive maintenance.
Under the ‘Make-in-India’ campaign, the Bhopal-Indore Metro trainsets are being manufactured 100 per cent indigenously at Alstom’s state-of-the-art rolling stock manufacturing facility at Savli in Vadodara in Gujarat.
The mock-up car was unveiled at Smart City Park, Bhopal on 26 August 2023, by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh.
While Alstom has successfully delivered the first trainset for the Bhopal–Indore metro project, the second trainset is expected to be delivered by 20 September 2023 and will be deployed to Bhopal.