Bangalore is known for its software companies, pubs, dogs, bikes and of course women; but not really for trains, and that my friends is going to change very soon. The Bamgalore Metro also dubbed Namma Metro is nearing completion. And with the announcement and display of the Bangalore Metro Coach, the people of the city are excited as well. Today’s post is a tribute to the newest and shiniest toy of bangalore techies, the Metro.

The route of the metro shown above has already gone changes and is now longer by close to 30 % from its initial design. Making it a really challenging project in a city where the infrastructure is already very bad even in comparison to many Indian cities. So work is going on, but at an agonizingly painful pace. Agonizing for the residents who have to bear the brunt of the traffic on a day to day basis, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

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Sections like this are drawing attention to the fact that the work is nearing completion in parts of the track. We all know that the Bangalore Metro is being built by the BEML led Consortium, however not many will know that the state run company beat some of the best in the business like Alstom India, Siemens and Bombardier. So winning the bid and executing the project is a bit of a big deal for the state run organization. So when the first cab came in for display to the public it was not really a surprise that the entire city was a buzz and was wanting to go and see this coach. For the guys who are not able to make it, here are some pics of how it looks like.

Some of the features of the Bangalore metro, or Namma Metro are worth noting, and I would like to mention some of them here :

• Each actual train set consists of three cars / coaches initially
• These Include a driver motor car (DMC), a trailer car (TC) and another DMC
• Option available to convert it to a six car train at a later stage.
• DMC has a capacity to seat 43 passengers and allow 273 to stand.
• TC can seat 50 and stand 273
• Total capacity of three cars is 975 people
• Four CCTV cameras to monitor passenger movement
• Eight doors on each coach with doors on each side
• Automatic Door opening / closing system
• Platform voice announcement and passenger information system in route
• Route map above each door and chime to indicate closing of doors
• Blinkers to caution passengers on opening and closing of doors
• All cars air conditioned
• Passenger to speak to driver through passenger emergency alarm system
• Train driver / pilot and Operation control center (OCC) to have direct link to passengers
• Driver in communication to OCC and station controller during emergency
• Provision on coach to charge mobile and laptops
• Designed cars for differently abled people in wheelchairs in DMC
• Max speed of 80 Kmph
• Length of train is 62.5 meters
• Power supply of 750V DC
• Standard guage of 1435 mm
• Automatic train operation / protection system
• Variable Voltage Variable Frequency (VVVF) Traction drive system

Now for some more technical details :

• ABB will design, supply, install and commission four substations that receive and distribute electricity, each rated at 66/33 kV, as well as the auxiliary and traction substations. ABB will also provide an integrated network management, or SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition), system to monitor and control the installations.
• The integrated control centre will have direct communication with trains and stations which will also be CCTV fitted with visual and audio service information. Trains will be Wi-Fi enabled and passengers will have emergency voice communication with train staff.
• Alstom Project India Limited (APIL) composed of Alstom Transport SA, Thales Security Solutions & Services Portugal and Sumitomo Corporation will provide the design, manufacture, supply, installing, testing and commissioning of the train control and signaling system for the first phase of the metro system. It includes the Urbalis 200 Automatic Train Control system which will ensure optimal safety, flexible operations and heightened passenger comfort.

The Metro trains are just the start, the stations are really the part that would make the Bangalore metro really interesting. Here attached below are the renders of the metro stations, actually the MG road station.

Well this station is going to be welcome addition to the aging and over emphasized MG Road in Bangalore, To give you an overview, the station itself is on the right. It will be standing in the place where Plaza theater was. It is being connected to the platforms which are on the left side of the image. If you have noticed, the connection is an overhead pedestrian bridge with two levels. Why two levels? To reach two platforms! The pedestrial traffic will be segregated much before you hit the platforms. Thats what we call good planning.

No doubt the main station will also house a lot of commercial establishments. That is one of the options BMRC has open to recover the costs. It is also noteworthy that the footprint of the metro is really only those pillars. While there is traffic chaos during the construction, surely metro wont choke the road after it is built. (We all wish the traffic on MG road was as sparse as shown here). If I have to take a guess, I would say the walls on either side of the track are noise-absorbing too! Similar to the nice flyovers in Bangalore, the metro track will also have a lot of vegetation below it. The creepers shown on the pillars might be purely ornamental though. In all, a lot to look forward to.