Metro Rail News January 2018

January 2018 / Monthly / Vol. I / Issue 13 

A Symbroj Media Publication 

NEWS | PROJECT UPDATES | TENDERS | EVENTS | JOBS | INTERVIEW | ARTICLES 

PM Modi flagged off India’s 

first UTO metro train 

services in Delhi-NCR 

Follow us at: 

www.metrorailnews.in

Main Topics of Conference 

• Urban Mobility Culture, Promises and 

Challenges 

• Urban Transport Planning and Commuting 

• Integrated Multi-Model Transport 

• Mass Rapid Transit Solutions 

• Electro and Low-Carbon Mobility 

• Intelligent Traffic Management & Safety 

• Smart Parking Solutions 

• IoT – Mobility Standards 

• Supply Chain Logistics 

• Big Data in Mobility Business 

• Legal – Economic Coordination of Mobility 

Development 

Target Audience 

• Central & State Government Authorities 

• Key Ministries i.e. Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Housing & 

Urban Affairs, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways 

• Metro Rail & Public Transport Operators, Indian Railways and Rail 

Coach Factories 

• Smart Cities Development Authorities 

• Public Sector Undertakings 

• Research & Development Organizations 

• Technical Institutes and Universities 

• Urban Planners and Consultants 

• Solution Providers, OEMs, Contractors and Suppliers 

• End users Private and Public Companies 

• Like-minded Citizens and Urban Mobility Experts 

Call for papers 

We specially invite Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) from 

all over the world and ask them to present their 

views, ideas and solutions, dedicated to the most 

urgent topics of urban mobility. The invited experts 

are covering the wide range of stakeholders in 

mobile societies and represent politics, industries, 

commerce, science and citizen interest groups. We 

invite you to submit abstract(s) for presentation as 

part of our Conference programme by or before 

31 st March 2018. 

Invitation 

• We invite nominated smart cities and present urban transport 

operators to share their mobility challenges and to find solutions. 

• We invite the private sector and solution providers to present its 

solutions, ideas and technologies for future urban mobility. 

• We invite research institutions and think tanks to present their 

findings and to provide insight on technological mobility services. 

• We invite citizens’ groups to speak about their needs and 

requirements for a livable environment. 

Registration open till 30 th September, 2018. Registration will be on 

‘first come first, serve’ basis. Limited seats available! 

For more information about sponsorship, association, speaking and media partnership opportunities please log on to 

www.urbanmobilityevents.com 

Narendra Shah 

Conference Director 

m: +91 9990454505 

e: narendra.shah@urbanmobilityevents.com 

Mamta Shah 

Associate Director 

m: +91 9716454505 

e: mamta.shah@urbanmobilityevents.com 

Priyanka Sahu 

Conference Coordinator 

m: +91 8076369858 

e: priyanka.sahu@urbanmobilityevents.com

CONTENTS 

13 Delhi Metro 

celebrating 15 years 

of excellence 

19 How does a train 

operator recover a 

failed CBTC train? 

32 PPP in Metro Rail 

Projects: Constraints 

and Opportunities 

34 Metro coaches 

being made in 

India… 

5 

New Year Greetings from Managing Editor 

6 

Editorial Advisory Board (January 2018) 

7 

Status of Metro Rail Projects in India 

9 

News Highlights (December 2017) 

37 

Exclusive Media Interview with Metroman 

E. Sreedharan 

39 

Future within better public transportation 

and shared infrastructure 

42 

Digital Transformation: Decoding Transition 

from B2B to H2H Experience 

45 

Rail Transport System: Classification of 

Rolling Stock in India 

47 

Wherever you will go, you’ll find yourself missing the Delhi Metro 

48 

Metro Project Tender Notices 

51 

Upcoming Industry Events 

52 

Metro & Railway Job Openings 

23 Exclusive Media Interview 

with Dr. Mangu Singh, MD, Delhi 

Metro Rail Corporation 

4 

© METRO RAIL NEWS | JANUARY 2018 | WWW.METRORAILNEWS.IN

New Year Greetings from Managing Editor 

Dear Readers & Contributors, 

Seasonal greetings from Metro Rail News ! 

I am very pleased to take this opportunity to wish our readership, members of the Editorial Team, members of 

the Editorial Advisory Board, all our independent expert referees, and all members, officers and staff of the Metro 

Rail News, the publication of Symbroj Media Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi a Very Happy New Year. On behalf of the 

Editorial Team, I would like to express my gratitude to our contributing readership and our Editorial Advisers 

and independent referees for their valuable contributions to the success of Metro Rail News Portal and Monthly 

Magazine. 

3 years ago, Metro Rail News had started its journey from the 26th January 2015 as a news portal with aim to 

provide real development story and updates to the citizens of India, members of metro and rail fraternity and 

other concerns. From, April 2017 we have started publishing a monthly magazine with depth focus on Metro Rail 

projects, High-speed rail projects, Urban Mobility, Smart public transportation in Smart Cities and other MRTS 

projects from India and rest of world. 

India has achieved lot of milestones in this sector from starting three new metro rail networks (Chennai, Kochi 

and Hyderabad) for people to laying stone of first Bullet train project of the country. Also most of cities has been 

finalised to develop as Smart Cities under the “100 Smart Cities Mission” of the Central Government led under 

the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We are making detailed coverage on year review in our Metro Rail News 

Magazine January Edition. We are also pleased to say that the number of subscribers and contributes during 

2017 has increased by at least 40% and we are fully confident that this trend will continue. 

Metro Rail News prides itself on being a truly international magazine (with about half its content being from 

outside India) and the premier multidisciplinary journal in the field. The Editorial Team and all those involved 

are determined to maintain and enhance the status of the journal and its leading position, but we believe that this 

can only be achieved with the continued cooperation of our contributing readership worldwide. The Editorial 

Team believes that the key to the success of this journal depends on the equal partnership we have with the 

contributing readership. 

We promise to improve and promote out role in this partnership and therefore look forward to your valued 

contributions to the journal in 2018 and beyond. 

I would like to express my deepest appreciation to you, our valuable authors, reviewers, and readers, for your 

contributions, service, and interest. 

A new year is not just about changing the calendar; it is also about commitment. We, the Metro Rail News 

editorial team, will continuously work hard to better serve our authors and users. 

I wish everyone a rewarding, joyous new year and look forward to working with you in 2018. 

I highly appreciate your support and hope to continue our collaboration further. 

Mamta Shah 

Managing Editor 

E-mail: editor@metrorailnews.in 

© METRO RAIL NEWS | JANUARY 2018 | WWW.METRORAILNEWS.IN 

5

EDITORIAL BOARD 

(January 2018) 

Vol. I / Issue 13 | January 2018 

Managing Editor 

Mamta Shah 

editor@metrorailnews.in 

Group Editor 

Shashi Prabha 

metrorailnews@gmail.com 

Director (Advertising) 

Narendra Shah 

advertise@metrorailnews.in 

Editorial In-charge 

Aradhana Patel 

metrorailnewsmagazine@gmail.com 

Circulation In-charge 

Priyanka Sahu 

sales@metrorailnews.in 

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Advocate, Ex. Dy. Secretary 

Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India 

New Delhi (India) 

Percy Bernard Brooks 

Project Management Specialist 

Faiveley Transport Rail Technologies 

Bengaluru (India) 

Haru Imam 

Project Control Engineer 

Persons Corporation 

Saudi Arbia (UAE) 

Sunil Srivastava 

Member Governing Council 

Institute of Metro & Rail Technology 

Hyderabad (India) 

Ved Mani Tiwari 

President & COO 

Sterlite Power Transmission Ltd. 

New Delhi (India) 

Yogesh Dandekar 

Sr. Manager – Industrial Design 

TATA Elxsi Limited 

Pune (India) 

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None of the information contained in this publication may be copied, 

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in whole or in part, in any form or manner or by means whatsoever, by 

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Printed, Published and Edited by Mamta Shah at Friends Digital Color 

Solutions, G-8, 57, Manjusha Building, Nehru Place, New Delhi-110019 

on behalf of Symbroj Media Pvt. Ltd., 32B, Patparganj, Mayur Vihar 

Phase-I, New Delhi – 110091, INDIA 

Ismail Sariman 

MEP Construction Manager 

Louise Berger Egis Rail JV 

Qatar (UAE) 

Yadav Bharanidharan 

Consultant 

Riyadh Metro Rail Project 

Riyadh (UAE) 

Journalist, Md. Tariq Khan 

Special Correspondent 

Hindustan Times 

Lucknow (India) 

Sanjay Kumar Agrawal 

Dy. General Manager 

Metro One Operations Pvt. Ltd. 

Mumbai (India) 

6 


STATUS OF METRO RAIL PROJECTS IN INDIA 

(As on January 1, 2018) 

Operational Projects 

Hyderabad Metro (Telangana) 

Lucknow Metro (Uttar Pradesh) 

Kochi Motro (Kerala) 

Chennai Metro (Tamilnadu) 

Jaipur Metro (Rajasthan) 

Mumbai Metro (Maharashtra) 

Gurgaon Metro (Haryana) 

Bengalore Metro (Karnataka) 

Delhi Metro (Delhi-NCR) 

Kolkata Metro (West Bengal) 

Under-construction 

Hyderabad Metro (Telangana) 

Lucknow Metro (Uttar Pradesh) 

Kochi Motro (Kerala) 

Chennai Metro (Tamilnadu) 

Jaipur Metro (Rajasthan) 

Ahamadabad Metro (Gujarat) 

Pune Metro (Maharashtra) 

Nagpur Metro (Maharshtra) 

Mumbai Metro (Maharashtra) 

Gurgaon Metro (Haryana) 

Bengalore Metro (Karnataka) 

Delhi Metro (Delhi-NCR) 

Kolkata Metro (West Bengal) 

Total Length (km): 426 

30.00 

8.50 

18.30 

27.36 

9.60 

20.40 

11.60 

42.30 

27.39 

230.55 

0 50 100 150 200 250 

16.5 

Length (km) 

Total Length (km): 517.15 

2.50 

14.40 

8.00 

7.00 

46.65 

36.00 

31.25 

38.00 

44.50 

71.00 

72.00 

129.35 

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 

Under-consideration Projects: 595 km 

Delhi Metro Phase-IV, Vijayawada, Indore & Bhopal, Kochi Metro Phase-II, Greater Chandigarh, Patna, 

Coimbatore, Guwahati and Kanpur. 

* The above data is inclusive of Monorail projects. 


7

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS 

NATIONAL 

DEC 2, 2017 • Hyderabad Metro commuters not happy with Metro fares, starts writing opinions on 

social media. 

DEC 3, 2017 • Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) floats tenders for preparation of the feasibility study 

and DPR of the Coimbatore Metro Rail project. 

DEC 4, 2017 • Kochi Metro Rail becomes most popular initiatives among the masses due to its free 

services and public participation in all possible ways. 

DEC 5, 2017 • KCB demanded infrastructure facilities to reduce the traffic problem due to Pune 

Metro rail project. 

• Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation gets RDSO clearance, needs Railway Board’s 

approval for Nagpur Metro Rail project. 

DEC 6, 2017 • Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to operate e-rickshaw service in Gurugram and 

Faridabad. 

• Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) installs Automatic Waste Composing 

Machine at Transport Nagar depot. 


9

Official Media Partner

DEC 7, 2017 • Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) proposes new metro 

extension line to connect Huda City Centre station with Dwarka Sec – 21. 

DEC 9, 2017 • Shri Kumar Keshav, MD of Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation inspects ongoing 

construction works from Charbagh. 

DEC 11, 2017 • Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) starts trial of metro train in Mundka- 

Bahadurgarh corridor. 

• Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) launches it’s official Mobile app. 

• Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation adopts a new version to save trees by 

transplantation in Pune Metro Rail project. 

DEC 12, 2017 • A five-year-old child’s files a complaint before Hon’ble National Green Tribunal 

(NGT) against Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) alleging noise pollution. 

DEC 14, 2017 • Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urges with center to roll back Delhi Metro’s 

fair hike as 18.5% loss in footfall. 

DEC 16, 2017 • Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) ensures safe underground corridor of 

Metro-3 project during the monsoon . 

• Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) receives first Aqua Line Metro train from 

CRRC China. 

• Public Accounting Committee (PAC) slammed MMRDA for poor planning and 

misjudging the feasibility of Mumbai Monorail in the City. 

• Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) organises an event on women safety 

in association with Women Helpline, Uttar Pradesh. 

DEC 17, 2017 • Reliance Infra led Mumbai Metro One Pvt. Ltd. (MMOPL) launches safety app 

for Mumbai Metro commuters. 

DEC 18, 2017 • MMRDA plans to connect High speed rail project between two Airports. 

• Uttrakhand Metro Rail Corporation signs MoU with Delhi Metro Rail 

Corporation (DMRC) to build metro line in state. 

• Hyderabad Metro concessioner L&T shows no interest to take up second phase 

of metro project. 

• Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) recommends to 

connect HUDA City Centre to Dwarka Sector 21 with short route. 

• Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) expects North-south corridor to be 

ready by April 2018. 

DEC 19, 2017 • Kochi Metro Rail Ltd. (KMRL) starts constructions of highest viaduct in its second 

phase. 

• First UTO (driverless) train of DMRC’s Magenta line derails, crashes into wall in 

Kalindi Kunj depot even before inauguration. 

DEC 21, 2017 • Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) suspends four officials, found responsible 

for driverless metro train crash. 

• MMRDA planes to acquire driverless trains for Mumbai Metro 2A, 2B and 7 

project. 

• Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) lowers cutter head of TBM Godavari -1 

at Vidya Nagari in Metro 3 Project. 


11

DEC 22, 2017 • Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) delays transfer of land for Pune Metro rail 

project. 

DEC 25, 2017 • Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates new metro link between Botanical 

Garden (Noida) and Kalkaji Mandir (South Delhi) of Delhi Metro (Magenta Line). 

DEC 26, 2017 • Indian Railways introduces Air-conditioned local trains first time in country for 

Mumbaikars. 

DEC 27, 2017 • Telangana to launch the process of identifying a project consultant for the MRTS 

projects in the state. 

• Bihar Govt. to submit DPR of Metro Project to Center in four months. 

DEC 29, 2017 • Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) places an order for 17 new Tunnel 

Boring Machines. 

• Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to add 120 km Metro Rail network in phase 

3 in 2018. 

DEC 30, 2017 • Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd. (HMRL) to close deal with German Bank KfW for 

Rs1,000 crore loan. 

Registration: 

http://imrtindia.edu.in/admissions_2018 

Institute of Metro & Rail Technology 

(A Unit of Integrated Rail Services (P) Ltd.) 

1st Floor, 160 Patny Square, Patny Nagar, 

Secunderabad-500003, Telangana, INDIA 

Phone : +91 40 2790 3311 

http://imrtindia.edu.in/ 

12 


T 

he Delhi Metro was not India's first metro rail system. That distinction belongs to 

the Calcutta Metro commissioned in 1984. But what the Delhi Metro Rail 

Corporation did achieve was creating an institution that executed projects 

with breathtaking speed and efficiency and minimal time and cost overruns to 

deliver a world-class mass rapid transit system. 

From its launch on December 25, 2002, to the Rajiv Chowk interchange 

station emerging as the game-changer in 2005, the Delhi Metro has seamlessly 

seeped into our lives which once used to be all about creaking buses and 

rapacious autowallahs. DMRC winds its way around the many elevated 

corridors and deep tunnels beneath the city, the ways in which it has changed 

life around it are not immediately evident. 

Metro Network: 

Then: Starting from an 8.5km line, the 

network reached 95.79km in 2009. 

Thanks to the Commonwealth Games, 

it took a big leap and almost doubled 

to 184.14km in 2010-11. 

Now: The growth has been slow since 

then and Delhi Metro now has a 

network of 218km. Another 13km will 

be added with Botanical Garden- 

Kalkaji Magenta line. Year 2018 will 

see an addition of 120km. 

Number of coaches 

Then: First section between Shahdara 

and Tis Hazari had 6 trains of 4 

coaches each. As overcrowding started 

causing problem, more coaches were 

added to the existing fleet. 

Now: The Delhi Metro currently 

operates a fleet of 227 train sets 

comprising 128 six-coach, 58 eightcoach 

and 41 four-coach trains. In all, 

227 train sets mean the Metro has a 

total of 1,500 coaches or bogies. 

Station design 

Then: Remember the creamcoloured 

walls of stations? Initially, 

the DMRC had decided to keep the 

walls uniform. Cream colour was 

chosen on the assumption that it will 

not distract motorists on the road. 

Now: The stations are now swanky. 

Govindpuri has street art designs 

while Jama Masjid and Mandi house 

have Mughal-era architecture. 

Upcoming 

stations like Kalkaji will have 

glossy walls in bright colours like 

blue, yellow. 

Platforms 

Then: Initially, space on 

platforms was less with no 

queue control. Security 

concerns forced DMRC to find 

ways of crowd management. 

Now: New lines under Phase-3 

will have platform screen doors 

to prevent suicide bids and 

attempts to jump on to tracks. 

Airport Line has these doors and 

some busy stations like Rajiv 

Chowk and New Delhi, are also 

scheduled to get them. 


13

Delhi Metro Network: At a glace 

The map below shows how the network will look once Phase-III is complete. The next step will be Phase-IV, which 

will make it the largest metro network in the world other than the two Chinese cities i.e. Beijing and Shanghai. 

14 


Airport line 

Then: It was opened in Feb 2011 

with about 10,000 people using it. 

It was closed from 7 July, 2012 to 

22 Jan, 2013 due to technical 

problems. 

Now: DMRC took over operations 

of the line from a private company 

in 2013. Now the average ridership 

is about 50,000 per day. Highest 

ridership was achieved on 17 

October, 2017 when 62,958 

passengers used the line. 

Construction 

Then: For Delhi metro, building a 

bridge or tunnel was easy earlier. 

Thanks to the rules then, they were 

able to get land and block traffic 

easily. 

Now: Though the technology has 

improved, traffic congestion and 

change in land acquisition act have 

been delaying projects. To block a 

road for construction is almost 

impossible now. So, most of the 

work has to be done at night. 

Double tunnels 

Then: In the first decade of Delhi 

Metro, building tracks was almost 

like painting on an empty canvass. 

Underground and elevated 

corridors were built without having 

to worry about existing metro 

tunnels. This has become a 

planning issue for the DMRC now. 

Now: To overcome this problem, 

the Delhi Metro corporation 

started building tunnel over tunnel. 

The tunnel between Sarojini Nagar 

and INA on the Majlis Park–Shiv 

Vihar corridor is constructed below 

the existing underground section of 

Samaypur Badli–HUDA City Centre 

line. Same has been done at two 

more locations. 

Highest and deepest points 

Then: For seven years, Delhi Metro’s 

deepest station was Chawri Bazar, 

which is 25m below the ground. 

Karkardooma station on Yamuna 

Bank-Vaishali line is the highest 

station located at the height of 19m. 

Now: The upcoming inter-change 

station at Hauz Khas will be the 

deepest. It is being built 29 metres 

below the ground. The Metro line 

crossing Dhaula Kuan station will be 

the new highest point. At a height of 

23.6 metres it will be equivalent to a 

seven-storey building. 

Tokens or Smart Cards 

Then: The first tickets were printed 

on paper, just like platform tickets at 

the railway stations. Soon metro 

shifted to smart cards and plastic 

tokens. 

Now: The technology has evolved 

and your credit card is now your 

travel card. Smart card recharges can 

also be done online. Besides, DMRC is 

working on new technology where your 

phone could be your travel card. 

Trains 

Then: For several years, coaches were 

brought from South Korea and 

Germany. They used to be airlifted and 

brought to Delhi. 

Now: The DMRC has stopped importing 

coaches now. All its trains are 

indigenous and are built in Ahmedabad 

and Bengaluru. The practice of simply 

assembling imported coaches into a 

train has now been discontinued. 

Facilities 

Then: In 2002, there were no toilets or 

dustbins at stations. DMRC said no to 

dustbins fearing bombs could be 

planted. 

Now: Following a court order, DMRC 

began making toilets from 2007 and 

providing dustbins from 2015. Now, it 

has toilets at almost every station. In 

phase-3, designs provide for toilets 

within the station premises. 


15

Delhi Metro: Important Dates 1995 - 2017 

May 3, 1995: Delhi Metro Rail 

Corporation (DMRC) registered as a 

Company. 

March 2, 1997: Signing of agreement 

between Japan and India for loan from 

JBIC for Phase-I of project. 

Nov 5, 1997: E. Sreedharan appointed 

a Managing Director of DMRC. 

Oct 1, 1998: Construction work begins. 

Jul 19, 2002: Training School launched 

as Shastri Park. 

Aug 30, 2002: First train comes from 

Korea. 

Sep 17, 2002: First trial run started. 

Dec 24, 2002: Prime Minister Atal 

Bihari Vajpayee inaugurates first 

section of Delhi Metro between 

Shahdara and Tis Hazari. 

Dec 20, 2004: First underground 

section opens between Kashmere Gate 

and Vishwavidyalaya. 

Jul 3, 2005: Kashmere Gate to Central 

Secretariat section opens. 

Apr 1, 2006: Delhi Metro enters 

Dwarka Sub-city. 

Oct 19, 2008: First major blow to 

metro image after underconstruction 

bridge collapses in 

Laxmi Nagar, killing 2 and injuring 17 

people. 

Jan 1, 2009: South Asia’s First Metro 

Museum inaugurated at Patel Chowk 

metro station. 

Jul 12, 2009: Eight killed after underconstruction 

girder of Central 

Secretariat-Badarpur line collapses. 

Nov 13, 2009: Metro reaches Noida. 

Yamuna Bank to Noida City Centre 

section opens. 

Jan 27, 2010: Delhi Metro reaches 

Ghaziabad. Anand Vihar to Vaishali 

section opens. 

Jun 21, 2010: Delhi Metro reaches 

Gurgaon. 

Oct 2, 2010: Introduction of Women’s 

only coach. 

Feb 23, 2011: Airport Express line 

starts between New Delhi and Dwarka 

Sec-21. 

Aug 18, 2013: First eight-coach train 

introduced. 

Sep 6, 2015: Delhi Metro reaches 

Faridabad. 

Nov 5, 2016: Two driverless metro 

trains collides in Kalindi Kunj depot. 

May 28, 2017: ITO to Kashmere Gate 

‘Heritage Corridor; opens. 

Dec 19, 2017: First ‘driverless’ train 

crashes in to wall in Kalindi Kunj depot. 

Dec 25, 2017: First ‘driverless’ train 

flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra 

Modi between Botanical Garden and 

Kalkaji Mandir. 

Ladies coaches 

Then: For the first seven years of 

its operation, Metro didn’t have 

reserved seats or a coach for 

women. Activists protested the 

move and raised demand for a 

separate coach. 

Now: On Oct 2, 2010, Delhi Metro 

introduced the ‘ladies coach’. 

First coach of every train is 

reserved for women. Besides, 

seats are also reserved in general 

coaches. The platform area from 

where women board the ladies 

coach is painted pink. 

Metro bridge over Yamuna 

Then: The first bridge over 

Yamuna was constructed at 

Shastri Park on Red Line (Rithala- 

Dilshad Garden) as part of Phase 

1. Later, in Phase 2, another 

bridge was built at Yamuna Bank 

on Blue Line (Dwarka to Vaishali/ 

Noida). 

Now: Three more bridges have 

been built on the Yamuna ever 

since. One is the stretch connecting 

Yamuna Bank and Indraprastha on 

Blue Line and the other two are 

part of the Phase 3 project — 

Kalindi Kunj on Magenta Line and 

Nizamuddin on Pink Line (Majlis 

Park to Shiv Vihar). 

Security 

Then: Passengers used to be frisked 

by Delhi Police and baggage was 

checked only randomly. Security 

used to rely a lot on inputs given by 

the Intelligence Bureau that used 

to audit stations regularly. 

Now: On April 13, 2007, the Central 

Industrial Security Forced (CISF) 

took over Delhi Metro’s security 

arrangements with 1,633 

personnel. Currently, about 7,000 

security personnel are posted with 

Delhi Metro and CISF is equipped to 

handle any untoward incident. 

Upgrades 

Then: When Metro trains were first 

introduced, they didn’t have CCTV 

cameras or charging points. It was a 

basic train with no additional 

facilities. 

Now: Trains have charging points 

and CCTV cameras. The trains that 

will be part of Phase 3 will even have 

USB ports, back rest and Wi-Fi. 

These will be open to public from 

4pm on Monday. 

As Delhi Metro becomes one of the 

largest city transport systems in the 

world, we take a look at some 

challenges that its users and 

managers face. 

Mobile network: Despite special 

fibre cables and antennas on Metro 

16 


pillars, mobile connectivity continues 

to be a pain. It is worse when you’re 

underground. 

Last mile: There is acute lack of lastmile 

connectivity. There are 291 

feeder buses while para-transit 

modes ply as per their free will. 

official Twitter handle of the Delhi 

Metro. The metro system lacks a 

social media forum. 

Safety: In 2016, there were 74 suicide 

bids which led to 12 deaths. Security 

officials now look out for visibly 

Men in women-only coaches: Little 

seems to have changed when it comes 

to men expecting to travel in the Pink 

coach meant for women. Thanks to 

the women security staff the menace 

is kept under control. 

Dark spots: Parking lots and roads 

leading to many stations remain 

poorly lit. Many of these stretches 

also do not have ‘eyes on street’ with 

lack of security. 

Manspreading: Some do it 

intentionally, others just don’t get it. 

Taking relaxation in the metro to the 

next level is not just the act of 

manspreading, but also lying down on 

empty seats. 

Ticketing system: New automated 

ticket system may be a good idea, 

but what about the multiple 

machines in most of the stations 

that say “Out of Service”? 

Overcrowding: It really irks a 

commuter when during peak hours 

even busy corridors like the Blue 

Line run six coaches. Only eightcoach 

trains should be run during 

peak hours to ease overcrowding. 

No change: Those disbursing tokens 

sometimes say they do not have 

change. It creates unnecessary 

delay in a commuter’s journey. 

Pick-pocketing: Till July alone this 

year, the CISF had caught 373 

pickpockets out of which 329 were 

women. So, be careful and keep 

your wallet and phone close to you. 

Social media: Commuters miss an 

Obstructing doors: Some people 

are in such hurry that they just 

won’t let go of a train, even if it 

means having their bag stuck 

between the metro doors. Take 

the next train, please. 

Night-time security: The ladies 

coach system just vanishes during 

the last few hours. Men joyfully 

settle in women’s coaches and 

security staff are rarely found 

around that time. 

Snags: The busy Blue Line has 

seen some of the worst snags this 

year resulting in complete chaos. 

Extra baggage: The DMRC recently 

introduced steel gauges to restrict 

baggage size. You’ll find these 

baggage loaded travellers at 

stations like Anand Vihar, New 

Delhi and Chandni Chowk. 

*** 


17

How does a Transit Operator recover a failed CBTC Train ? 

Train recovery is a critical 

function because it 

defines how the 

Operator will recover a 

failed train under a worstcase 

failure; defined as a 

Vehicle Controller (VC) 

unable to communicate 

the train’s position to the 

Wayside (the Wayside 

cannot track the train). If 

a CBTC design can 

handle the worst-case 

scenario, then all other 

train recovery scenarios 

are taken care of 

automatically. 

A stranded train due to 

communication failure is a rare 

event due to the built-in 

redundancy all CBTC solutions 

provide: redundant network 

design, redundant radios on the 

trains, overlapping radio 

coverage and hot standby VCs; 

nonetheless the CBTC solution 

must have a design in place to 

recover from this rare event. 

Naeem Ali, P. Eng, 

Director & Principal 

Consultant 

CBTC Solutions Inc., 

Toronto, Canada, 

In this scenario, a 

communicating vehicle (CV) is 

unable to transmit its position 

to the Wayside (radio failed). 

The non-communicating vehicle 

(NCV) will brake to a stop and 

service behind the train will halt 

(Figure 1). The Operator must 

decide how to rescue this train 

from the mainline and allow 

service to continue. 


19

The discussion from this point forward assumes a train operator (TO) walked to the NCV or a TO was already on 

the train when communication failed (some systems demand a TO be on the train even though it is an automated 

system). 

Figure 1 - Worst case train failure 

If the Train Operator 

(TO) switches to 

manual mode and 

moves the train, it 

becomes a ghost train 

(see Figure 2) because 

it’s not reporting its 

position and the 

wayside is unaware 

the train is moving. 

This invokes CBTC rule 

number one, NCV’s 

are not permitted to 

move without 

protection. 

20 


Figure 2 - Ghost Train 

Challenge for the Operator: a train 

packed with commuters is not able 

to re-establish communication with 

the wayside and cannot move in 

manual mode. The Operator must 

decide how the CBTC design will 

recover this failed train. 

The Operator has three design 

options available: 

• Option 1: Train Protection 

Reservation (TPR); create a safe 

corridor between two points on 

the track to allow a noncommunicating 

vehicle (NCV) to 

travel safely within. 

• Option 2: Train coupling; a 

communicating vehicle (CV) tows 

a non-communicating vehicle 

(NCV). 

• Option 3: Fallback mode of 

operation; secondary detection 

devices are utilized to track a noncommunicating 

vehicle. 

Each option is more complicated and 

costly than the last, but the 

operating environment ultimately 

determines which option is 

applicable to the Operator. 

Option 1 - Train Protection 

Reservation (TPR) 

Note: This section is based on IEEE 

1474.3 section 6.1.4 

The TPR is a basic building block for 

any CBTC solution. It is created at 

the request of the CO to isolate a 

section of track to permit a failed 

train to travel safely within. The 

TPR prevents switches from moving 

and automatic trains from entering 

and/or operating inside the TPR 

(Figure 3). 

Once the TPR is locked down, the 

CO will give the train operator (TO) 

permission to move the NCV within 

the TPR. When the train reaches its 

final destination, the TPR can be 

removed either by manual 

procedure or a design that verifies 

the TPR is cleared of all obstructions. 

The advantage of the TPR function is 

the simplicity of its design. The 

disadvantage is if the final 

destination is far off, the TPR will 

cover a large section of track, which 

means service is impacted until the 

train reaches its destination. To 

counter this, small TPRs can be set 

until the train reaches its final 

destination, such as station to station 

or station to switch. 

The TPR is a basic protection 

mechanism that allows a failed CBTC 

train to travel safely from its current 

location to its final destination. 

The simplicity of this option reduces 

the number of “moving parts” and 

therefore the number of failures that 

can occur and this is the power 

behind this concept. 

Next month I will discuss option 2 

(train coupling) and option 3 

(fallback mode of operation). 

Figure 3 - TPR 

22 


Exclusive Interview: 

Dr. Mangu Singh, Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation 

M 

angu Singh, who succeeded 

Metro Man E Sreedharan, is considered 

an expert in tunnel engineering. He joined 

the Delhi Metro a month after Dr. 

Sreedharan became its Managing 

Director in 1997. Singh took over from him 

on January 1, 2012. 

Singh, an IIT Roorkee graduate, had 

joined as the chief engineer, later 

became the executive director and then 

director (works) before being appointed 

as the MD. Singh has also been 

instrumental in preparing the Master Plan 

and Detailed Project Reports for Metro 

system in other cities of the country. 

Despite his vast experience, Singh says 

every station is a new challenge and he 

enjoys working when the situation is 

difficult. Here are some excerpts from his 

interview: 

You have been associated with DMRC since the 

beginning. What changes you have seen in 15 

years? 

In 2002, the difficulty was that for the first time 

we started operation of a very modern metro 

railway system in the country. And therefore, 

there was lack of know-how. Today, the 

challenge is volume — the network has grown 

to 217km, ridership is more than 25-26 lakh, 

number of stations, trains, coaches everything 

has grown. The sheer volume is a challenge. 


23

I enjoy underground 

constructions as 

every station is itself 

a challenge. 

Underground 

everywhere is 

different while 

elevated is almost 

same. I really enjoy 

solving those 

technical problems. 

____________________ 

Did you expect the project to 

become so popular when you 

started in 2002? 

There was a time in the beginning 

when people were very critical. 

They said metro will not be popular 

and Delhi is not suitable for this. So 

we were cautious as far as 

projection is concerned. Then, the 

time came when traffic became 

more and more. Today we are in a 

situation where traffic is more than 

what we had projected. 

Another thing was that since our 

network is beyond Delhi, our 

average trip length is much more. 

The average journey of a passenger 

in Delhi metro is 16-17km. We 

expected 6-7km. Passengers are 

staying in our system for longer 

time. Worldwide average trip 

length is not as high as ours. Most 

are in the range of 7-8km. 

In terms of construction activity, 

how have things changed? 

There are two things, first the 

technology is improving day by day, 

there is no doubt. What is more 

important, actually, is ease of 

construction. In Phase 1 between 

DU and Kashmere Gate, we were 

able to block the road almost 

completely. That option is not 

available today because of increase 

in traffic and public expectation. 

I enjoy underground constructions 

as every station is itself a challenge. 

Underground everywhere is 

different while elevated is almost 

same. I really enjoy solving those 

technical problems. 

There was a phase in 2008-09 when a 

series of accidents took place. How 

difficult was it? 

Those were difficult times, we have 

learned a lot from those two 

accidents at the construction site, 

therefore we resolved it in Phase 3, 

and our record is very good. Though 

construction sites are very risky, we 

have reasonably done very well in 

Phase 3. We strengthened our safety 

procedures and plugged the 

loopholes in Phase 3. 

Delhi Metro was recently in news 

over fare hike. Do you think it has 

dented the image of organisation as 

a number of passengers have opted 

out of the system? 

We are still very well patronized. We 

are still carrying 25 lakh passengers 

every day. As far as the fare increase 

is concerned, the DMRC has made it 

clear many times that fare fixation 

mechanism is inbuilt in the metro act. 

DMRC hardly has any role in it. 

A fare hike in any transport system is 

usually followed by a dip in 

ridership, but was the dip of 3.2 lakh 

commuters daily in the of October 

along expected lines of higher? 

There are many reasons for such 

fluctuations like shorter day number 

of holidays, restrictions on movement 

etc. during the same period in 2014, a 

dip of 3 lakh had been observed, and 

usually there is a dip during this 

period every year. It happened in 

2009 and 2005 and in Kolkata metro 

too. I am sure you will witness the 

same thing if there is a hike in DTC 

fares November figures are yet to 

come and I’m sure January, February 

and March Will see an increase in 

rider-ship. As far as our revenue is 

concerned, we are comfortable. From 

24 


May till now, our average revenue has 

been about 55% more. 

For a large section of people, metro 

travel has become unaffordable. Do 

you think a subsidy can be the way 

out? 

Between 2009 and 2017 minimum 

wages went up by more than 200% and 

DA for government staff by more than 

100%. The wholesale price index has 

also gone up. Everywhere costs have 

gone up. So, I don’t understand why 

people say budgets have been hit. 

What was the objective when the 

metro project was sanctioned? If you 

sow the seed of a guava tree, you can’t 

expect mangoes. The revenue for 30 

years is projected initially and that’s 

the basic for sanctioning the project. 

Suppose at the time of sanctioning the 

project, it is decided that we don’t have 

to pay back the loan and we don’t hike 

fares for the next 30 years, then the 

project would then take a call on 

whether a sanction it or not. The 

sanction order even talks about a fare 

hike in other competitive modes of 

transport. It reads: ‘ A suitable 

arrangement shall be provided by 

government of NTC Delhi for periodic 

and automatic fare revision for other 

competing modes’. DMRC has nothing 

to do with this. 

Will DMRC implement the fare 

fixation committee’s recommendation 

for an annual fare hike, which is to 

come into effect in January 2019? 

According to FFC, every year, starting 

with January 2019, you can adjust the 

fare based on the cost input-there is a 

formula-but not more than 7%. There 

are three inputs for taking this call 

energy price, staff cost. It is too early to 

say there will be an increase in these 

costs, but suppose there is none, we 

need not go for an increase. 

Why has DMRC been unable to 

exploit non-fare revenue sources 

such as property development and 

advertisement to bridge the funding 

gap? 

We are doing property development, 

retail space, advertisement, station 

naming right etc. in order to get 

revenue. We are not Hong Kong but 

we are better than hundreds of 

metros worldwide. DMRC’s main 

function is running trains while their 

main function is property 

development. They are actually a real 

estate company. They will develop an 

entire island and provided 

connectivity by metro and no other 

means of transport. They have 80-90- 

storey buildings on the station itself. 

Did the chief minister speak to you 

on the fare hike? 

Yes, we have talked and I have 

explained everything to him and I 

believe he was convinced. I explained 

to the transport minister also. 

The pink and magenta lines have 

been delayed. What’s the reason? 

We did phase I in seven years and 

three months. Phase II had the goalpost 

of Commonwealth Games and 

we had no option but to open the 

lines by that date. That phase I and 

the technology was the same. Land 

was not an issue at all during both 

phases. There was an emergency 

clause in the land acquisition law 

which meant possession would be 

given to use and the compensation 

process would carry on. The new land 

acquisition act has changed all that. It 

is so cumbersome and lengthy Now 

we negotiate directly with the parties. 

We are doing 

property 

development, retail 

space, advertisement, 

station naming right 

etc. in order to get 

revenue. We are not 

Hong Kong but we 

are better than 

hundreds of metros 

worldwide. DMRC’s 

main function is 

running trains while 

their main function is 

property 

development. 

_____________________ 


25

There are locations where land wasn’t 

available and we had to change our 

design. Two depots-- Kalindi Kunj and 

Vinod Nagar were delayed badly 

because of land issues. We 

immediately changed our planes and 

made two- storey depots there. This 

is for the first time in the country that 

we have gone for a multi-level depot. 

We also have a new signaling 

technology. We did Faridabad, 

Kashmere Gate and badly easily but 

are lagging behind wherever the new 

technology is being used such as Line 

7 (Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar) and Line 8 

(Janakpuri West -Botanical Garden). 

Getting clearances from Railways has 

also become more cumbersome in 

phase III. The magnitude in phase III is 

equal to phase I and II combined. 

What we have done in phase III is not 

less. There are certain areas where 

we have missed deadlines. We 

started trials on Line 8 last august. 

Had it been phase I or II, I would have 

opened this line in December last 

year, but with this new technology we 

need time. I’m very satisfied with the 

kind of work we have done-hundred 

kilometers of tunneling which is more 

than phase I and II put together. 

Has the depletion of the bus fleet in 

the city increase pressure on metro? 

Yes, of course. We had planned 

expansion of the network and to 

tweak our planes when we realized 

that in the past three-four years 

things were not what was originally 

contemplated. When we mooted the 

idea of a metro in Delhi, we had 

about 10,000 buses. If not an increase 

in number, it should have been 

maintained at that level. 

How has the added pressure affected 

functioning of your services, both in 

terms of operations of the trains and 

managing the environment inside 

and outside the station? 

Now we have to make the maximum 

number of trains available for 

operations. That means restrictions 

on maintenance, which is critical. So, 

we have to put more effort and more 

manpower into that. But we have 

managed it. Meanwhile, from January 

2016 till date, we have added almost 

22% additional coaches. That has 

given a lot of flexibility. Adding more 

coaches is a tedious processwithdrawing 

asix-coach train and 

making it an eight-coach one. 

What is the status of your proposal 

to induct 582 new coaches? 

The proposal was given after year’s 

odd-even and is still under 

consideration of the government 

Meanwhile, our normal programme 

to augment capacity continue. Not 

getting sanction doesn’t mean we are 

not adding to our fleet. we will 

complete our planned expansion by 

march. 

We had planned 

expansion of the 

network and to 

tweak our planes 

when we realized 

that in the past 

three-four years 

things were not 

what was originally 

contemplated. 

When we mooted 

the idea of a metro 

in Delhi, we had 

about 10,000 buses. 

If not an increase in 

number, it should 

have been 

maintained at that 

level. 

___________________ 


27

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Do you know? 

90% of our magazine readers and portal viewers belong to decision maker community.

What important changes have you in 

traduced and what are your planes to 

handle the situation in future? It will 

only grow worse with the numbers 

rising. 

There is no foolproof way of projecting 

demand. When Delhi main was 

planned in phase I, the projection was 

that more people would use it from the 

station side and less from Chandni 

chowk side, much more than we had 

expected. We needed modifications in 

escalators, ticket counters etc. We 

have done this in New Delhi, HUDA City 

Centre, Kirti Nagar etc. 

What has DMRC done to improve 

safety of woman in the backdrop of 

some recent incidents? Has the issue 

of blind spots at station presence of 

security personnel, been addressed? 

We are very serious and are reviewing 

it periodically. We have enough 

cameras and there are no blind spots 

as every area is covered. Only the 

cameras need to be watched more 

regularly. If a station has a hundred 

cameras and a person is watching on a 

screen with four windows, the turn of 

one spot will come after say five 

minutes. If somethings happens within 

those five minutes, it will go unnoticed. 

We have decide that cameras in some 

identified areas will remain focused 

while other will keep changing. No 

camera that has a snag will continue 

for more than a day. It will be replaced. 

Lighting will be surveyed on a daily 

basis. We will install cameras in parking 

lots, which are quite vulnerable, and 

improve lighting. 

With many more interchange points 

and a larger network from next year, 

commuters will have more travelling 

options and shorter routes, How will it 

affect public perception? 

More and more areas will be covered and 

system utilization will go up manifold. The 

congestion in the central parts will reduce 

considerably because everybody will not 

be required to come to Rajiv Chowk since 

there will be lot of interchange points. In 

case of any interruption in any area, there 

will be alternative routes. One 

interruption will not affect the entire 

operation. 

Commuters complain that they are not 

informed in time or given complete 

information about technical snags and 

how much time would be needed to 

rectify a problem? 

It is highly technical thing. Suppose the 

screen show failure, there are 

preordained steps. The first things is you 

switch off and on again, just like a mobile 

that hangs. If it doesn’t work, the attempt 

is to take the train to the next station. 

Evacuation of passengers is only the fifth 

step. Now somebody may say that the incharge 

should have taken this decision 

right in the beginning. 

What are your views on private 

participation in metro projects, now that 

it’s part of official policy? 

The whole attempt of the government to 

reduce dependency on the funds to be 

provided by the central government. That 

is the main purpose and that’s why they 

are saying explore (alternative avenues) 

to the extent possible. One good thing is 

that they are not talking of a complete 

PPP but unbundling and identifying areas 

where you can have private funding like 

what Kochi has done. They have got a 

private player to install the automatic fare 

collection system. We will also explore 

along these lines. You can attempt a 

complete PPP in a new town or city, but 

where we already have a network, having 

a PPP for one line in between will have 

serious implication for operations. 

There is no 

foolproof way of 

projecting 

demand. When 

Delhi main was 

planned in phase 

I, the projection 

was that more 

people would use 

it from the station 

side and less from 

Chandni chowk 

side, much more 

than we had 

expected. We 

needed 

modifications in 

escalators, ticket 

counters etc. 

__________________ 

30 


PPP in Metro Rail Projects: Constraints and Opportunities 

T 

he Government of India has made 

Public-Private Partnership (PPP) 

component mandatory for states for 

availing central assistance of new metro 

projects as part of its New Metro Rail 

Policy, 2017. Private investment and 

other innovative forms of financing of 

metro projects have been made 

compulsory to meet the huge resource 

demand for capital intensive high 

capacity metro projects. As per the 

Metro Policy, “Private participation either 

for complete provision of metro rail or for 

some unbundled components (like 

Automatic Fare Collection, Operation & 

Maintenance of services etc) will form an 

essential requirement for all metro rail 

projects seeking central financial 

assistance”. This development has raised 

the question whether PPP model can be 

successful for metro rail projects in India. 

- Jitu Sharmah 

Manager (Transportation) 

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation 

Bangaluru, India 

The PPP model as a part of the New 

Metro Policy aims at lessening the burden 

on the Central government in funding 

metro projects. This is not the first time 

that the PPP model has been tried in 

India. The first partnership model had 

been tried in the airport line of Delhi 

Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). However, 

this attempt was not successful. Reliance 

Infrastructure became the country’s first 

private company to join the initiative, but 

abandoned it due to huge losses. Mumbai 

Metro Line-1 and Hyderabad metro rail 

have been taken up as PPP project with 

Viability Gap Funding (VGF) from 

Government of India. The Rapid Metro in 

Gurugram is an initiative of Government 

of Haryana where full funding is by the 

private concessionaire. 

32 


Constraints 

The major issues, related to PPP in 

metro projects in India are 

commercial viability and 

procurement of Right of Way (RoW) 

and land. Metro projects are high 

capital intensive. Private players 

look for a return of around 12-15 

per cent, while no metro project has 

yielded an investment return of 

more than 3 per cent. Metro 

projects are also long-haul projects 

and will take long time to breakeven. 

The returns can only be 

generated by steep hike in their 

fares, but this is a problematic 

prospect for various reasons. The 

collection of revenues is highly 

uncertain in most of public 

transportation projects. The private 

investment has not been successful 

in Airport Metro Express Line 

because the usually unstable 

revenues which make them 

commercially unviable. A trade-off 

is then often present in the case 

when the financial rate of return is 

below the market rate for private 

funds; some form of public support 

is required to make the project 

feasible (viability gap funding). The 

financial rate of return may be 

improved by way of additional user 

charges then economic rate of 

return may be affected negatively. 

Another issue is the procurement 

Right of Ways (RoW) and Land. The 

responsibility of procuring RoW and 

land rests with the concerned state 

government. Private acquisition is 

very difficult with lengthy 

procedures and social 

considerations also need to be 

addressed, which is a challenging 

assignment. In Mumbai Metro Line 

1, Reliance Infrastructure took 

almost 7 years to complete 11 km of 

the relatively easier elevated line. 

This is due to delay in receipt of 

unencumbered Right of Way (RoW) 

/ land by Government & Mumbai 

Metropolitan Region Development 

Authority (MMRDA). So delay of 

procurement of RoW and land is 

another obstacle for PPP projects. 

In India, it is seen that political and 

bureaucratic constraints, such as 

fragmented decision making due to 

the involvement of multiple public 

agencies, the prevalent emphasis on 

administrative procedures rather 

than on strategies and results and 

lengthy tendering process (normally 

split in three or four phases, from 

planning to final operation) lead the 

problems for implementation of PPP 

projects in public transportation. 

Opportunities 

But there are also reasons in favour 

of PPP in metro projects. The PPP 

structure will help speedy, efficient 

and cost effective delivery of 

projects apart from better value of 

money and high performance 

incentives. The accountability and 

risk is with the private sector. But 

the success of the project will 

depend on the contract agreement 

(PPP framework) that the owners 

enters into with the construction 

company. 

Way Forward 

As cities are growing at a fast pace, 

metro will be an important 

constituent of the transport mix. 

Metro is more capital-intensive as it 

requires everything from land 

acquisition to civil works, signalling, 

and rolling stock. The capitalintensive 

nature of such projects 

does not allow private players to get 

a return on their investments 

easily. The metro has several 

externalities that make it 

imperative for the government 

to subsidize it. From enhanced 

mobility, to its relatively low 

carbon footprint, metro usage 

has benefits that cannot be 

measured through the purely 

commercial yardstick of profit 

and loss. So instead of PPP, 

state governments should give 

more emphasis for adopting 

innovative financing 

mechanisms like Value Capture 

Financing tools to mobilize 

resources for financing metro 

projects by capturing a share 

of increase in the asset values 

through ‘Betterment Levy’. 

The government has also to 

ensure affordable public 

transport and hence it must 

invest in it. To ensure that least 

cost mass transit mode is 

selected for public transport, 

the New Metro policy 

mandates Alternate 

Analysis, requiring evaluation 

of other modes of mass transit 

like BRTS (Bus Rapid Transit 

System), Light Rail Transit, 

Tramways, Metro Rail and 

Regional Rail in terms of 

demand, capacity, cost and 

ease of implementation. 

*** 


33

Make in India: Metro coaches being made in India for 

some of world’s biggest metro rail projects 

M 

etro is emerging as key 

solutions to fulfil demand for 

urban transportation in 

India. As per Ministry of 

Urban Development (MoUD), 

about 425 kilometres of 

Metro rail is under operation 

and more than 500 kms of 

Metro rail is under 

construction across the 

country. It is expected that 3 

new systems will become 

operation by 2018, mainly 

Noida, Nagpur and Navi 

Mumbai. Some of the metro 

lines, like Pune, Kanpur, 

Kolkata and Ahmedabad 

are under construction. 

I tell the world, ‘Make 

in India’. Sell 

anywhere but 

manufacture here. 

We have the skill and 

talent for it. We have 

to increase 

manufacturing and at 

the same time ensure 

that the benefits 

reach the youth of 

our nation. 

- Prime Minister 

Narendra Modi 

_____________________ 

34 


The capital costs 

of Metro coaches 

in India are 

substantially 

lower than the 

rest of the world. 

The capital cost 

of a coach is 

around INR 89.4 

million (US$ 1.35 

million) in India, 

the cost in 

Vancouver is INR 

160.8 million (US$ 

2.5 million) and in 

San Francisco is 

INR 151.3 million 

(US$ 2.30 million). 

________________ 

Drawn to India by an explosion in 

metro-rail projects, Alstom SA and 

Bombardier Inc are now poised to 

use the nation known for being the 

world's back-office as a 

manufacturing export hub. 

The French and Canadian 

multinationals set up manufacturing 

and engineering operations 

between 2008 and 2010 to tap into 

India's rapidly-growing urban 

transportation market and will now 

export to Australia, the Middle East 

and Asia from these facilities, 

company officials said. 

PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates 

total investments in subway projects 

will reach $230 billion in Asia over 

the next 15 years. 

Alstom and Bombardier want to 

exploit India's large pool of 

engineers and cheap skilled labor 

that have helped turn the nation 

into a key center for auto companies 

including Ford Motor Co. and 

Hyundai Motor Co. New export 

avenues such as metro rail systems 

are critical to Prime Minister 

Narendra Modi's promised 

economic rejuvenation. Shipments 

from Asia's third-largest economy 

must grow about 15 percent a year 

to ensure the pace of expansion 

needed to create sufficient jobs, 

according to Modi's top economic 

adviser Arvind Subramanian. 

Sydney is going to be Alstom's first 

project in Australia and it will supply 

railway coaches from India, said Bharat 

Salhotra, the company's managing 

director for India and south Asia. "We 

will continue to look at India, not just for 

addressing the Indian market but for 

addressing markets beyond. Exports will 

continue to be on the radar." 

Alstom will fill the Sydney metro orders 

from its manufacturing units in south 

India and is looking at the Middle East 

and Southeast Asia, he said. 

Cost Competitive 

Bombardier has invested about 33 

million euros in its Indian manufacturing 

facility and has orders to export 450 

metro rail coaches to Australia and 

components to Brazil, Australia and 

Saudi Arabia, Harsh Dhingra, chief 

country representative of Bombardier 

India said in a phone interview. The 

Quebec-based company has 

manufacturing capacities in Gujarat 

state in western India and a 

transportation engineering services 

center in Gurgaon, near New Delhi. 

"We will look at opportunities to export 

from India to other countries in the 

region," he said. "India is a low-cost set 

up. That is why our exports are going 

out of India.“ 

Name of the company Facility Location Year of Establishment 

Bombardier Transportation Savli near Vododara (Gujarat) 2008 

Alstom Transport Sricity near Chennai (Tamil Nadu) 2010 

Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) Bengaluru (Karnataka) 2015 

China Railway Rolling Stock (CRRSC) 

Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and 

Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) 

Under plan 

Table: Metro Coach Manufacturing Units in India 


35

India has already emerged as a base 

from where the likes of Hyundai, 

Ford, Renault SA and Suzuki Motor 

Corp. export cars to Africa, South 

America and Europe. The South 

Asian nation shipped 3.5 million 

vehicles in the year ended March 31, 

just below a record in the previous 

year, according to the Society of 

Indian Automobile Manufacturers. 

While the government has tried to 

spur the manufacturing sector via its 

" Make in India" push, the nation 

still ranks 130th in the World Bank's 

ease of doing business ranking, 

slowing the pace of investment. It 

has fared better on the services 

side: The information technology 

industry is the nation's largest 

private-sector employer, providing a 

livelihood to nearly 4 million. 

The domestic and regional 

opportunity for transportation 

companies only looks to be growing. 

At least ten Indian cities are working on 

metro railway projects and the 

government initiated a plan in 2012 to 

study the feasibility of such networks in 

all cities with a population of more than 

2 million. Most cities with ongoing 

projects require companies that bid for 

supply contracts to manufacture in 

India, which led to the setting up of 

facilities in the country. 

More than 500 billion rupees ($7.7 

billion) worth of metro projects are 

underway in India and this pile will 

probably grow, according to Manish 

Agarwal, leader - infrastructure at 

PricewaterhouseCoopers. 

"All of this implies sufficient scale for 

parts of manufacturing to be located in 

India," he wrote in an emailed response 

to questions. "The manufacturing base 

can then also serve the growing market 

in other parts of Asia (Dhaka, Colombo, 

etc) as also Africa (Mauritius, among 

others)." 

As per industry 

estimates, there will 

be a demand of 

2000 metro trains in 

India in the next 5 

years (2015-2020). 

The Delhi Metro 

currently operates 

with a fleet of 227 

train sets comprising 

of 128 six coach, 58 

eight coach and 41 

four coach trains 

across all its corridors. 

A total of 924 

coaches have been 

ordered for the 

forthcoming phase 

of Delhi Metro 

including 504 

coaches for the new 

Phase 3 corridors. 

____________________ 

METRO COACHES MARKET IN INDIA 

The existing numbers of coaches supplied or ordered for various metro project is as follows: 

Metro Rail Project Rolling Stock Suppliers Coaches 

Delhi Metro (Broad Gauge) Consortium of Hyundai, Mitsubishi & MELCO / Bombardier / BEML 1232 

Delhi Metro (Standard Gauge) BEML 164 

Bangalore Metro BEML-led consortium with Mitsubishi & Hyundai 150 

Mumbai Metro CSR Nanjing (China) 64 

Jaipur Metro BEML 40 

Kolkata Metro CNR Dalian (A subsidiary of CRRC) 112 

Chennai Metro Alstom 168 

Gurgaon Metro CSR Zhuzhou (A subsidiary of CRRC) 36 

Hyderabad Metro Hyundai -Rotem 171 

Lucknow Metro Alstom Transport 80 

Kochi Metro Alstom Transport 75 

Nagpur Metro CRRC 69 

Navi Mumbai Metro CSR Zhuzhou (A subsidiary of CRRC) 12 

Noida Metro CRRC 76 

36 


Exclusive Interview: 

Dr. E. Sreedharan, Principal Advisor of Delhi Metro Rail Project 

E 

Sreedharan, popularly 

known as Metro Man, 

had joined the Delhi 

Metro Rail Corporation 

on November 5, 1997 as 

the Managing Director. 

He commended DMRC 

for having maintained a 

smooth operation in all 

these years without any 

passenger accidents or 

compromising 

punctuality and viability. 

Here are the excerpts: 

How was Delhi Metro conceived? 

Whose idea was it? How was it 

taken forward? 

There was a proposal to start 

railway based Mass Rapid Transit 

System in the four metropolitan 

cities of the country for which 

government setup Metropolitan 

Transport Projects (MTPs) in 

Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and 

Chennai in the early 1970s. Only 

Kolkata took-off in the metro 

direction. In other cities, attempts 

were confined to improving the 

sub-urban systems only. 

The Metro system was under 

consideration for Delhi ever since 

then but nothing materialized 

till RITES was commissioned to 

prepare the Detailed Project 

Report (DPR) in early 1990. 

The first Phase of Delhi Metro 

covering about 53.5 kms was 

covered in this Detailed Project 

Report but it was only through a 

valiant approach of NP Singh, 

the then Secretary/Urban 

Affairs, Karnataka Cadre IAS 

Officer, who had an excellent 

rapport with the then Prime 

Minister, H D Deve Gowda 

which ultimately got the 

government’s nod for the metro 

in Delhi. Jai Kishan, the then 

Chief Secretary/Delhi also 

played the supporting role. 


37

I don’t think even after 

completion of Phase – 

IV, physical limits for 

Metro network 

expansion will reach. 

The city is spreading 

fast so the Metro 

network expansion 

has to go on for 

another 10-12 years. 

Meanwhile to contain 

the population growth 

of the city, rapid 

intercity train services 

have to be 

introduced so that 

more and more 

people to prefer to 

stay away from the 

city and commute 

from RRTS. 

_____________________ 

The unique organizational structure 

of Delhi Metro, 50% – 50% 

partnership with Government of 

India and Government of Delhi was 

given shape by the then MD of 

RITES, BI Singhal and me, when I met 

him in Dhaka (Bangladesh) during a 

joint project, while I was the 

Chairman and Managing Director of 

Konkan Railway. Judging by the Delhi 

Metro success, this organizational 

structure was a runaway success. 

What were the biggest challenges in 

construction of Metro? 

When we started, the country did 

not have any experience, expertise 

or precedence for planning, 

designing and implementing a world 

class metro. This was resolved by 

engaging the international experts to 

assist DMRC. Another challenge was 

huge financial outlay that was 

needed for the project. The 

Japanese government offered a 

Japan Bank for International 

Cooperation (now Japan 

International Cooperation Agency) 

loan which made things easier for 

the government to start the Project. 

How did Metro change Delhi? 

For me, the biggest change Delhi 

Metro has achieved is has changed 

the travel style of Delhi’s public. A 

growing number of commuters are 

today using the metro system. For 

travelling in a metro, commuters 

have to observe orderliness, 

discipline, patience and 

consideration for the fellow 

travellers. The Delhi metro, 

therefore, has brought a dramatic 

change in the social attitude of the 

people in Delhi. 

What, according to you, are the 

biggest challenges now for the 

Delhi Metro? 

Our trains are terribly overcrowded 

and train fleet strength has to be 

increased to solve it. The network 

expansion is also urgently needed 

and his need heavy investment. 

Metro is already the backbone of 

Delhi’s transportation system. 

Another 140 km will be added to 

the network soon and with phase 

four (103km), the Metro will hit its 

physical limits. Where does a city 

like Delhi go from here? 

I don’t think even after completion 

of Phase –IV, physical limits for 

Metro network expansion will 

reach. The city is spreading fast so 

the Metro network expansion has 

to go on for another 10-12 years. 

Meanwhile to contain the 

population growth of the city, rapid 

intercity train services have to be 

introduced so that more and more 

people to prefer to stay away from 

the city and commute from RRTS. 

Simultaneously, the bus fleet has to 

be increased at least by 3 times so 

that a reliable, convenient and 

affordable public transport system 

is available to at least 90% of the 

citizens. Government also has to 

bring in a number of disincentive 

measures to reduce the number of 

vehicles on the road. 

38 


Future within better Public Transportation and 

shared Infrastructure 

W 

ith the Indian Transportation 

Network growing ever 

larger, The Economic Times 

saw the need to cultivate a 

platform for industry big-wigs, 

environmentalists, researchers, 

transport industries and various 

stakeholders to discuss the 

greenhouse gas effect to address 

environmental issues and 

decrease their dependence on oil 

as a source of fuel. The Economic 

Times Smart Mobility Summit 2017, 

held at The Taj, New Delhi, saw 

prominent industry experts aimed 

to lay down a blueprint for the 

future, driven by innovation and 

the vision to provide cleaner, safer 

and faster transportation 

infrastructure. 

The initiative retorted 

with resolutions for the 

transportation sector that 

requires constant restructuring 

and new age solutions. With a 

strong bequest established 

with the past summits on 

Transportation, ET Edge 

continues to fuel the nation’s 

growth with visionaries across 

Industries, like Amitabh Kant, 

CEO, NITI Aayog, Greg Moran, 

Co-Founder & CEO, Zoomcar, 

Vikramjiet Roy, Managing 

Director, Maccaferri India, Dr 

Kamal Soi, Member at National 

Road Safety Council - Ministry 

of Road Transport & Highways 

& several others for the said 

summit. 

Commenting on the summit, 

Deepak Lamba, President, Times 

Strategic Solutions, said, “The 

objective is to create the largest 

and most relevant forum in the 

country that creates the effective 

platform for discussing issue 

pertaining to transportation 

network of the country. It also 

aims to bring the government 

together with private players, 

corporates and consultants for 

the betterment of the nation. 

This indication of significant 

challenges requires a crucial 

address that will be initiated at 

summit, which brings together 

all key note speakers on a shared 

platform to discuss optimal 

solutions.” 


39

Highlighting the efforts undertaken 

by the Government to take the 

transportation infrastructure in the 

country to the next level Amitabh 

Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog said, “The 

future lies in innovation and 

disruption. We are moving towards 

a system where public 

transportation holds the key as we 

move away from personal vehicles. 

This will be a world of shared, 

electric and connected vehicles, and 

this in turn will require real-time 

monitoring. Therefore, the future lies 

in having better public 

transportation and shared 

infrastructure.” 

In an interactive panel discussion on 

the case for Smart transportation for 

Smart Cities -Greg Moran, Co- 

Founder & CEO, Zoomcar 

commented, “When we launched 

India’s first cycle sharing service 

some months back, we looked at it 

as solving both first and last-mile 

connectivity issues. I’ve lived in 

Bengaluru for the last 5 years, and 

walking even 2-3 kilometres is quite 

challenging. Taking taxis or 

rickshaws are inefficient from a cost, 

time and environmental standpoint. 

Shared mobility solutions like cycle 

sharing are great for the last-mile, 

cost a fraction of other modes of 

transport and don’t rely on the 

creation of fresh infrastructure.” 

Further sharing his inputs Dr Kamal 

Soi, Member at National Road Safety 

Council - Ministry of Road Transport 

& Highways added, “When I look at 

our 100 upcoming Smart Cities, 3 C’s 

come to mind. Those 3 C’s are 

Congestion, Congestion and 

Congestion. Be it Delhi, Bengaluru, 

Chennai or wherever you go, it is 

equally true. So we need to move 

towards smart mobility and urban 

planning as we move forward.” 

Giving his view on role of technology is 

todays’ life Vikramjiet Roy, Managing 

Director, Maccaferri India said, “While 

we are talking about technology and 

innovations, I think we cannot wish 

away the fact that we do need to build 

high quality physical infrastructure. 

Integrated planning lies at the centre 

of it. There could be innovations and 

disruptions not too far in the future, 

but we need to build the physical 

infrastructure to make the most of it, 

and we need to embrace the best 

technologies available globally to make 

this happen.” 

The summit witnessed exchange of 

dialogues from various panellists on 

Transport in the Digital Age, Waste to 

Bio-Fuels, Challenges with methane 

slip, and reduction of carbon footprint 

due to associated gasses and 

Rethinking Efficient Transportation, 

Electrification of Public Transport – 

Lessons from European Cities amongst 

others. 

*** 

When I look at our 

100 upcoming 

Smart Cities, 3 C’s 

come to mind. 

Those 3 C’s are 

Congestion, 

Congestion and 

Congestion. Be it 

Delhi, Bengaluru, 

Chennai or 

wherever you go, 

it is equally true. 

So we need to 

move towards 

smart mobility and 

urban planning as 

we move forward. 

(Dr Kamal Soi, Member at 

National Road Safety 

Council - Ministry of Road 

Transport & Highways) 

__________________ 

Times Conferences Ltd. functional under the brand name ET Edge is an Economic 

Times Initiative, founded to empower multiple industries and segments by 

sharing critical business knowledge through strategic conferences and summits. 


41

Digital Transformation: Decoding Transition from B2B to 

H2H Experience 

D 

igital Transformation has 

become one of the 

hottest ‘buzz words’ of 

today’s times. And why not, 

when we discover even baby 

products manufacturers and 

renowned accounting firms 

are heavily betting on this 

term. The increasing internet 

and mobile penetration has 

led to a digital disruption & 

none of the industries had 

remained untouched with 

this new digital wave. The 

credit goes to ground 

breaking technological 

advancements & 

government initiatives which 

had made affordable 

technology accessible to 

masses across remotest areas 

of the planet. 

Technology has evolved massively in the past decade while 

trending towards a new one taking birth everyday with the 

first rays of sunlight. Many of them appear to be promising 

to find a crucial place in our life as suggested by these stats. 

Industries across all segments are expressing immense 

confidence in these technologies & are heavily investing in 

them to achieve desired insights & results. The fact cannot 

be denied that these technologies are actually making a 

significant impact on us by making things convenient and life 

easier. 

But, a strange thing to watch in this Digital Transformation 

wave is the organizations perspective. Most organizations 

appear to be focused more around the term ‘Digital’ instead 

of Transformation which stresses on a strong affinity towards 

technology. The focus is on making humans tech savvy 

42 


esulting into a new generation 

which is technology dependent & 

data hungry. The term 

‘Transformation’ appears to have 

been left mid-way which has 

resulted into rise of humanoids 

lacking human values & common 

sense. The fear of loss of human 

jobs to robots and technology 

overcoming human life are on the 

horizon. 

Did we really mean to create such 

of world where technology 

overcomes us & our values? 

Digital Transformation isn’t limited 

to technological advancement, but 

has a much wider scope of deliver. 

The transition from Gen X to Y and 

now Z is heading towards redefining 

the principles of doing business. In 

order to adopt & adapt to these 

principles, it requires an enterprise 

wide agile transformation. The 

world is transitioning from an 

independent individual country 

setup to a collaborative cultures 

constituting into a connected planet 

of 7.5 billion head-count. A person 

inside an office might be an 

employee but outside the premises 

could be a customer or a potential 

business opportunity. 

Here are some insightful thoughts 

for consideration as building blocks 

of organization transformation 

strategy to create a collaborative & 

sustainable digital transformation 

ecosystem and transition towards a 

human2human model. 

Business agility: It should reside at 

the heart of any business as agile is 

a culture in itself. Organizations 

need to contemplate adopting it at 

across levels & not consider agile as 

a methodology limited to a small 

software development group. 

Focusing on time to value, low 

latency, rapid adaptation, 

innovation, mobility & flexibility are 

some of its key components. 

Flat Hierarchy: Moving away from 

traditional hierarchical 

organizational models to flat 

hierarchy of small self-organizing 

teams. 

Promoting Intrapreneurship within 

organization would deliver 

impressive results & enhance 

engagement. 

Bureaucracy: A major roadblock in 

smooth functioning of any 

organization and should end with 

immediate effect. Granting 

optimum authority & autonomy to 

individuals at all levels to take wise 

decisions depending on their 

responsibilities as they tend to 

possess maximum ground level 

visibility of their deliverables than 

anyone else. 

Agile leadership: The executive 

management should be educated & 

open minded enough to accept the 

disruptive changes & showcase 

leadership qualities in taking risks 

which consequently generates 

confidence in the teams on ground. 

KPI’s: Moving away from the 

traditional KPI’s and focusing on 

introduction of a new set of 

indicators like employee happiness 

index, customer delight score, 

business health index etc. to 

maintain a balance between 

employee engagement & customer 

satisfaction. 

Communication has to be as much 

open, simple, consistent & 

transparent to ensure the audience 

at all levels remains connected & 

updated with the right information. 

Unified vision is another factor 

which requires implementation 

from day 1. Organization leadership 

should ensure to remain 

synchronized in terms of vision, 

mission & goals across all levels. 


43

Collaboration is the key to 

business success. Organizations 

must be open enough to 

collaborate internally & externally 

at all levels in order to achieve 

their vision & deliver on customer 

expectations. 

Security is a major challenge 

organizations are struggling in 

today’s big data world. There is a 

need of an equal effort both from 

organizations to ensure right 

security systems are in place to 

ensure customer data remains 

encrypted and from customers to 

keep themselves aware of various 

security hacks. 

Digital Transformation is about 

connecting the right DOTS (Digital, 

Operations, Technology & 

Strategy) while ensuring people, 

process & system remains minimal 

affected by the change. 

Technologies, tools & automation 

constitutes to be a critical enabler 

in easing the overall digital 

journey, but primarily it 

emphasizes on connecting & 

collaborating with the right 

resources to further enhance the 

human life experience. 

In today’s world of Industry 4.0, 

Business 4.0 & HR 3.0, 

organizations should urge for 

building a transformation 

ecosystem comprising of a perfect 

mix of communities (technology, 

consulting, operations & 

leadership) flexible enough of 

adapting to any size or scale with 

the purpose of accommodating 

the dynamically changing 

customer’s expectations. Imagine 

a world where all the big 

enterprises collaborate with the 

SMEs & startup’s globally to create 

a refined & centralized ecosystem 

of products & services by working, 

delivering & celebrating the 

success all together. 

Organizations across the planet 

are aspiring hard to achieve a 

successful digital transformation & 

working tirelessly to lay the finest 

foundation stones for their 

journey. This is the right moment 

for them to assess if they are 

actually heading in the right 

direction and avoid this disruption 

turn into a disaster! 

*** 

This article is written by Ms. Sheetal Bansal. She is a digital transformation program management 

professional with an overall 8+ years of combined experience in leading transition & transformation projects 

for diverse enterprise clients based in US, EMEA & APAC. Also, an ex-entrepreneur who had grown an Ed 

Tech. startup & managed family business of F&B product manufacturing.

Rail Transport System: Classification of Rolling Stock 

T 

he term Rolling Stock in 

rail transport industry 

originally referred to any 

vehicles that move on a 

railway. It has since 

expanded to include 

the wheeled vehicles 

used by businesses on 

roadways. It usually 

includes both powered 

and unpowered 

vehicles, for example 

locomotives, railroad 

cars, coaches, and 

wagons. 

- Mahipat Chavda 

Production Engineer 

Bombardier Transportation 

Vadodara, Gujarat (India) 

Here First we go through basic of rolling stock concept. Rolling Stock 

vehicle generally classify into six ways. 

Light Rail 

Light rail, light rail transit (LRT) or fast tram is urban public 

transport using rolling stock similar to a tramway, but operating at a 

higher capacity, and often on an exclusive right-of-way. 

In Indian cities like Kochi, Ahmedabad, Rajkot LRT route 

implementation plan already prepared. Scope of this light rails will 

be very high in future. 


45

Metro Rail 

Metro Rail is a Mass Rapid Transport 

System (MRTS). It is a convenient, 

fast, efficient, reliable, modern, user 

friendly, comfortable and affordable 

mode of urban transport. 

The first underground Metro rail of 

length 18 km started operating in 

Kolkata in 1984 and later an 11 km 

elevated rapid transport system was 

commissioned in Chennai, as an 

extension to its existing suburban 

rail system. Work on the third Metro 

rail project started in Delhi in 1998. 

First phase of 65 km was completed 

in 2007. A small length of Metro rail 

in Bangaluru started operating in 

2012. Construction of Metro rail 

systems has started in 6 more cities 

i.e. Kolkata, Chennai, Bangaluru, 

Kochi, Jaipur, Gurgaon and Mumbai. 

Many other cities such as Lucknow, 

Nagpur, Pune, Ludhiana, 

Ahmedabad Metro, Bhopal Metro, 

Indore Metro and Chandigarh are 

planning rail transit. 

Commuter and Regional Trains 

Regional transport is often used to 

travel from home to work or school 

and it is addressed to an extremely 

demanding public. 

The train must meet the aesthetic 

standards in line with the times, it 

must be cool, beautiful, cushy, 

comfortable, safe and quickly reach 

the destination. 

It provides a service between 

smaller communities along the line, 

and also connections with longdistance 

services at interchange 

stations located at junctions or at 

larger towns along the line. 

Alternative names are "local train" 

or "stopping train". 

High speed and Inter-city 

Inter-city rail services are express 

passenger train services that cover 

longer distances than commuter or 

or regional trains. 

Indian inter-city trains are run 

by Indian Railways. With 63,000 km 

(39,146 mi) of rail routes and 6,800 

stations, the railway network in 

India is the third-largest in the world 

(after Russia and China) and the 

largest in the world in terms of 

passenger kilometers. Shatabdi 

Express, Jan Shatabdi Express, 

Rajdhani Express and Duranto 

Express are the fastest Inter-city 

services in India of which the Bhopal 

Shatabdi Express is the fastest train 

of India. 

We need some for intercity trains to 

join more cities of country. 

Locomotives 

A locomotive is also called loco or 

engine. The locomotives of India 

presently consist of electric and 

diesel locomotives. Steam 

locomotives are no longer used in 

India, except in heritage trains. 

Monorail 

A monorail is a railway in which the 

track consists of a single rail. 

Monorails can be driven by linear 

induction motors; like conventional 

railways, vehicle bodies can be 

connected to the beam via bogies, 

allowing curves to be negotiated. 

in India Development of the 

monorail system is on hold, and 

questions have been raised as to 

whether the proposed monorail 

corridors will have sufficient 

capacity to meet Mumbai's 

requirements. The monorail may 

not be further extended by the 

the MMRDA, as it may prove 

inadequate for Mumbai's population 

density. Foreign consultants have 

suggested a Metro or LRT system 

over a monorail for many Indian 

cities, e.g. Bangalore. 

There are other two major areas of 

railways having bright future which 

use in above all. 

• System Integration:-Operations 

and maintenance (O&M) services 

for fully automated transit and 

mass transit systems. 

• Signalling: Rail control and 

signalling solutions for mainline 

railways ranging from freight 

traffic to regional/commuter, 

intercity and high speed lines. 

In the next five years, Indian railway 

market will be the 3rd largest, 

accounting to 10% of the global 

market and Metro rail is going to be 

70% of the railway market in India. 

In India, due to increasing 

population and economic 

expansion, the electricity demand 

and supply balance is skewed. To 

tackle the situation we need to 

develop eco-friendly cities with 

more public transports. This need 

leads to the expansion of Metro rail 

network. 

*** 

46 


Wherever you go, you'll find yourself missing the 

Delhi Metro 

J 

ust one question 

‘what is the best 

thing about Delhi 

NCR?’ and 80% of the 

people will answer in 

unison as ‘the metro’. 

For almost every 

Delhiite, from someone 

residing here for the 

past many years to 

somebody who 

recently shifted, Delhi 

Metro is like their daily 

local. 

- Ankita Borthakur 

New Delhi, India 

Delhi Metro celebrated its 15 th birthday on 25 th December, 2018 

and since then, it has become the heart of the Dilliwaale. 

Residents of Delhi have become so accustomed to the metro that 

now most of them dump their cars and take a metro to their 

offices. This changeover has happened mainly due to the sheer 

convenience that it provides and also because we never see a 

traffic jam in metro land. For a person like me who hates driving, 

metro is like an Angel sent from the heaven! 

Especially, Delhi metro was no less than a saviour to me when I 

first shifted to this place as a student. With only a limited amount 

of pocket money to survive through my entertainment and 

shopping routines, I could, with my remaining meagre savings, 

take a daily metro from anywhere to everywhere within Delhi 

NCR. Plus, metro felt so much safer than any other means of 

transportation available here. My parents back home at least 

could rest in ease knowing that I’m not travelling in a crowded 

bus to and from any place. 


47

I once had a good chat with a couple 

who stays in Bahadurgarh which is a 

small tehsil in Haryana, 2 km away 

from Delhi. The family of six, 

including an 85-year-old grandma, 

were travelling from Faridabad to 

Bahadurgarh in the violet line of 

Delhi metro. While we were talking, 

they confessed that this is the first 

time in many years that the 

grandma was going to see her sister 

in Bahadurgarh, all thanks to the 

extended metro line. She could not 

visit her for so many years because 

of the long and rigorous hours of 

bus journey that involved in it. But 

now, the metro is bringing the 

sisters together. That day, I was 

travelling from Faridabad to Dwarka 

to meet my local guardians. Metro 

does connect the hearts and helps 

keep families connected. 

Professionals like me, for whom 

reaching on time to office is 

important, Delhi metro is the best 

available options. But I have to 

travel for so long that it bores me 

and more than often I’m irritated 

and think to take an alternative. But 

once my friend’s father told me that 

he had a hard time to accept a job 

offer in Okhla as he knew about the 

amount of journey which involved in 

commuting from Gurgaon sector 56. 

It was like a total wastage of time 

and the buses used to be over full 

and would stop everywhere due to 

heavy traffic jams. He used to catch 

a bus at 6:30 am to reach his job at 

9 am. That day, I sat inside the 

metro and heaved a sigh of relief 

that today we have the Delhi metro 

for us. It is actually making my job 

life as comfortable as it should be. 

Over the past 15 years, Delhi metro 

has constantly kept on extending 

and today it connects almost every 

major areas of the capital region. It 

is extending so rapidly that 

somewhere or the other, you are 

bound to find the signboard ‘metro 

construction ahead’. I once betted 

with one of my colleagues that 

there probably will be a station 

under construction near his house in 

the next one year. And lo and 

behold, after three months we saw 

the metro construction board 

actually being set up near his house. 

I won the bet! No wonder, it is one 

of the longest transport systems in 

the world. 

Today, Delhi Metro has 173 

operational stations at the moment, 

and DMRC (Delhi Rail Metro 

Corporation) is all set to add 120 km 

in 2018. Its current network spans 

for an awesome 231 km following 

the recent opening of the Botanical 

Garden-Kalkaji Mandir section of the 

Magenta Line. This is a good news 

for people like me who hates to 

travel to Noida because of the 

enormous number of stations. 

Well, it did not come as a surprise to 

me when in the year 2014 Delhi 

metro was recognised as the second 

most popular metro system 

globally. Yes, like with everything 

good comes its cons, so is the case 

with our Delhi metro. One of the 

underlying problems with the metro 

is that it gets over crowded during 

the peak hours. It sometimes gets so 

crowded that it becomes difficult 

even to breathe. This leads to 

uneasiness and people start blaming 

the metros. But again, the same 

people dump their vehicles and 

swipe their metro cards at the 

entrance the next day. Life in Delhi 

is impossible without it. 

As for me, the uber comfortable airconditioned 

journey, the velocity at 

which the vehicle moved, the view 

from the window, and the rapid 

availability of the trains, just sold me 

to Delhi. I fell in love with the place. 

And from my own personal 

experience I would like to quote 

that “Wherever you go, you'll find 

yourself missing the Delhi Metro”. 

Author was First Runner up in 

Mrs. Universe 2017 Contest and 

currently associated with an NGO 

Samadhan Abhiyan - A fight against 

Child Sex abuse. 

48 


LIVE TENDER NOTICES 

Company Name & 

Location 

Description of Work 

Tender Cost 

(INR) 

Closing Date 

Delhi Metro Rail 

Corporation Ltd, New 

Delhi, India 

NIT for Contract DMRC/MU/LINE6/BC/01: Part design 

and construction of viaduct and 3 elevated stations viz. 

IIT-Powai, Kanjur Marg (W) and Vikrholi (EEH) 

(excluding Architectural finishing and Pre-engineered 

steel roof structure of Stations) from chainage 9586.50 

m to 14358.00 m including ramp for Depot entry up to 

chainage 14490.60 m of Swami Samarth Nagar – JVLR 

–SEEPZ – Kanjur Marg – Vikhroli (EEH) Metro Corridor 

(Line – 6) of Mumbai Metro Rail Project. 

08.01.2018 

Bangalore Metro Rail 

Corporation, 

Bangalore, India 

NIT for supply of 4213 MT 60E1 (UIC-60), 1080 Grade 

Head Hardened (HH) Rails as per IRS-T-12-2009 for 

Line-7 corridor Andheri (East)- Dahisar (East)of 

Mumbai Metro Rail Project of MMRDA, Mumbai. 


Pune Metro Rail 

Corporation, Pune, 

India 

NIT for construction of Underground shafts for 

tunneling at Agricultural College and Key details: 

Swargate; 2. Swargate Metro Station; 3 Multi-modal 

Integration at Swargate Metro Station; and R&R 

facilities. 


Bangalore Metro Rail 

Corporation, 

Bangalore, India 

NIT fir shifting of BESCOM utilities infringing 

Underground (UG) Metro Stations alignment between 

Dairy Circle and Nagawara Circle in Reach - 6, Phase - II 

(New Line) (Package –I). 


Nagpur Metro Rail 

Corporation, Nagpur, 

India 

NIT for design, manufacture, supply, installation, 

testing and commissioning of platform screen gates 

and platform screen doors system for Nagpur Metro. 



49

Company Name & 

Location 

Description of Work 

Tender Cost 

(INR) 

Closing Date 



India 


testing and commissioning of signaling and train 

control system at Pune Metro Rail project. 




India 


testing and commissioning of Signalling and train 

control system at Pune Metro Rail project. 

15.03.2018

UPCOMING EVENTS 

Event Date Event Name Location 

Jan. 10-11, 2018 11th Annual of City Rail Summit Shenzhen, China 

Jan. 10-13, 2018 National Railroad Contractors Annual Conference Los Angeles, United States 

Jan. 25-26, 2018 

20th International Conference on Railway 

Engineering and Transportation Management 

Paris, France 

Feb. 21-22, 2018 6th International Railway Summit Prague, Czech Republic 

Mar. 01, 2018 Light Rail: Transforming Our Cities Sydney, Australia 

Mar. 06-08, 2018 IT Trans Rheinstetten, Germany 

Mar. 12-13, 2018 Middle East Rail 2018 Dubai, UAE 

Mar. 15, 2018 Accelerate Rail 2018 London, UK 

Mar. 20-21, 2018 Asia Pacific Rail 2018 Hong Kong, China 

Mar. 20-22, 2018 Myanmar Infrastructure Summit 2018 Yangon, Myanmar 


51

Metro & Railway Job Openings 

Organization & Location Position Name Last Date 

Nagpur Metro Rail 

Corporation, Nagpur, India 

Mumbai Metro Rail 

Corporation, Mumbai, India 

Maharashtra Metro Rail 


• Senior Section Engineer (Track) – 1 post 

• Sr. Station Controller/Train Operator/Traffic Controller 

– 1 post 

• Senior Technician (Rolling Stock) – 2 posts 

• Senior Technician (Traction) – 4 posts 

• Senior Technician (Signal) – 3 posts 

• Senior Technician (Tele.) - 1 post 

• Senior Technician (E&M) – 2 posts 

• Senior Technician (Track) – 1 post 


• Sr. Dy. General Manager (Rolling Stock) – 1 post 31.01.2018 

• Chief Project Manager (Civil-Metro Station & Viaduct) – 

1 post 

• Chief Project Manager (Civil-U/G) – 1 post 

• General Manager (Design) - 1 post 

• General Manager (Civil Planning) - 1 post 

• Chief Project Manager (Track) – 1 post 

• General Manager (Tender) – 1 post 

• Addl. Chief Project Manager (Civil U/G) – 1 post 

• Addl. General Manager (Design) – 2 posts 

• Addl. General Manager (Civil Planning) – 2 posts 

• Addl. Chief Project Manager (Quality) – 1 post 

• Addl. Chief Project Manager (Safety) – 1 post 


52 


Organization & Location Position Name Last Date 

Maharashtra Metro Rail 


Chennai Metro Rail 

Corporation, Chennai, India 

• Addl. Chief Project Manager (Track) - 1 post 

• Sr. Deputy Chief Project Manager (Civil U/G) – 2 posts 

• Sr. Deputy Chief Project Manager (Track) – 2 posts 

• Deputy General Manager (Design) - 2 posts 

• Deputy General Manager (Civil Planning) – 2 posts 

• Dy. General Manager (Tender) – 2 posts 

• Manager (Civil Underground) – 2 posts 

• Manager (Track) – 2 posts 

• Manager (Tender) – 1 post 


• Site Engineer (Civil) – 8 posts 03.02.2018

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