Chennai Metro floats tender for overhauling of its Phase 1 Rolling Stock

Chennai, India (Metro Rail Today): Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) is looking for a system contractor for overhauling its Rolling Stock fleets for Phase 1. CMRL invited competitive bids from the eligible, experienced firms for providing overhauling services to Alstom-made Rolling Stock trains at the Koyambedu depot.

According to the maintenance schedule, the overhauling of metro trains is done after they complete six years in operation or cover four lakh kilometers in operation. The process will involve the removal of bogies from the car body, replacing all worn-out components, and updating the train software. CMRL has currently a total of 52 trains and the services began in June 2015.

In the first phase of the overhaul, the CMRL has planned to service 45 four-car trains between 2022 and 2027 – at least nine trains every year. The overhauling, to be carried out at the Koyambedu train maintenance depot, should be completed within 35 days for each train. Last year, an in-house team of the CMRL overhauled seven train sets – at a cost of 1.77 crores for each train.

“When we overhauled the trains, we understood that we needed certain resources like manpower and material for certain works, the cost for which was high. We then decided to outsource the work where everything will be handled by an external team. We will also get the work done at a better cost,” a CMRL official said.

Chennai Metro Rail Ltd had procured 42 four-car trains for the 45km phase-1 and another 10 trains for the 9km phase-1 extension line from Alstom Transport.

After completion of overhauling of trains, a fitness certificate will be issued and the entire process will be documented. During the overhauling activities bugs in the train control and monitoring system software, which is also an interface connecting all subsystems in the train, will also be identified, and the software will be updated.

All trains have a life of 30 years after which they will be refurbished.