Metro’s first three coaches to reach city in December

Nagpur: The first three coaches of Nagpur Metro were flagged off at China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation’s (CRRC’s) Dalian plant on Thursday. They will reach Nagpur next month.

MahaMetro managing director Brijesh Dixit, while talking to the media from Dalian, said that the coaches had the best specifications in the world. “They operate at 25 KV and have an axle load of 16 ton. This is the lowest in the world and will make the coaches more energy efficient. The coaches leased from Hyderabad Metro have an axle load of 17 ton,” he added.

According to him, the emergency door of the coaches is on one side in the centre. They have plug type doors. The windows are bigger and gangway between two coaches is also wider than other Metro coaches in India. They also have eccentric front door evacuation facility and inverter controlled air-conditioning.

Among the train’s special features was regenerative braking system, which will be operational between speeds of 10 kilometre per hour and 70 kmph. This system makes the train highly energy efficient.

Live telecast of any event is possible on board the train and Wi-Fi service would be available inside the coaches.

CRRC will deliver all the 69 coaches by the middle or end of 2019. “All coaches will be in Nagpur by the time the Metro starts its full-fledged commercial operation,” said Dixit.

The MD further said that one coach had about 3,000 components. “About 30% of them have been manufactured outside China including India. The propulsion system has been made in India (30%) and Japan (70%). The brakes and communication based train control (CBTC) system have been designed in Germany. The pantograph has been made in India while train control management system (TCMS) has been manufactured in Japan,” he added.

Turning to cost, Dixit said that price of one coach was Rs8.02 crore, which was the cheapest in India.

Dalian lies close to North Korean border. The coaches will be transported by road to a north Chinese port. They will reach Chennai port and from there they will be transported to Nagpur by road. The CRRC plant manufactures a 1,000 coaches in a year and is one of the biggest plants in the world.