3 days ago
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Even arsenic operation of the Blue Line corridor remains nether way, Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) connected Thursday delivered the archetypal driverless bid acceptable for Bengaluru Metro’s upcoming airdrome corridor.
The six-coach bid was transported connected specially designed trailers from the BEML’s manufacturing portion astatine C.V. Raman Nagar to the Byappanahalli Metro depot, wherever archetypal investigating activities volition commence.
Speaking to The Hindu, Yashwanth Chavan, main nationalist relations serviceman of the BMRCL, said that though the caller depot being developed for the Blue Line is yet to beryllium afloat operational, the bid would beryllium stationed astatine the Inspection Bay Line for preliminary depot trials.
He said the bid would acquisition extended investigating and validation procedures earlier being introduced for rider operations. Once the corridor and associated infrastructure are ready, the bid volition beryllium shifted for further trials connected the line. The investigating process is expected to proceed for astatine slightest 5 months.
The 18-km elevated agelong betwixt Central Silk Board and K.R. Pura is presently targeted for completion by December 2026. However, enactment connected respective stations is inactive successful progress, raising uncertainty implicit whether the timeline tin beryllium achieved.
The remaining 37-km conception from K.R. Pura to Kempegowda International Airport is expected to beryllium completed by December 2027 .In August 2023, the BEML was awarded a ₹3,177-crore declaration by the BMRCL for the proviso of 318 metro coaches.
In contrast, delays successful the transportation of rolling banal had importantly affected the commissioning of the Namma Metro Yellow Line. Although the corridor infrastructure was substantially completed, rider services could not commence owed to the non-availability of trains. The hold stemmed from issues faced by the supplier contracted to supply coaches for the line. In 2019, the BMRCL awarded a ₹1,578-crore declaration to the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) for the proviso of 216 metro coaches. However, the institution failed to conscionable cardinal contractual obligations, including the constitution of a manufacturing installation successful India, resulting successful repeated delays successful manager accumulation and delivery.
The prolonged setback forced the BMRCL to contented aggregate notices to the institution and see encashing a ₹372-crore slope guarantee. Finally to expedite the proviso of the remaining coaches and wide the backlog, the CRRC subsequently entered into a concern with Kolkata-based Titagarh Wagons for manufacturing and transportation of the trains. In 2024, the Chinese institution started delivering the trains.
