Bombardier to supply 201 cars, signaling infra for Agra-Kanpur Metro

Canadian firm Bombardier’s domestic arm on Monday said it has bagged a Rs 2,051-crore contract for supplying equipment and building signaling infrastructure for the Agra-Kanpur Metro project.

The company claims that 1.4 million daily riders will benefit from the new metro services connecting the city clusters of Agra and Kanpur and iconic destinations such as the Taj Mahal.

“Over 1,000 Movia metro cars and 200 km of Cityflo signalling ordered by India’s operators make this country one of Bombardier’s largest metro markets,” an official statement by the company said.

Bombardier Transportation has received a Letter of Award (LoA) from India’s Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) to build and deliver 201 metro cars and an advanced signalling solution for the Agra-Kanpur Metro projects.

For the 30-km Agra Metro and the 32-km Kanpur Metro, Bombardier’s scope for the contract consists of 67 Bombardier Movia metro three-car trainsets and the advanced Bombardier Cityflo 650 rail control solution.

The Letter of Award is valued at approximately Rs 2,051 crore (245 million euro, $275 million) and the customer has a provision to exercise an option of an additional 51 metro cars.

Kumar Keshav, Managing Director, Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC), Lucknow (India) said, “UPMRC has the responsibility of implementing the prestigious Kanpur and Agra Metro projects in Uttar Pradesh within a very strict time frame. Manufacturing and supply of 67 high-end state-of-the art modern trainsets of three-cars each, manufactured in Savli, India by Bombardier, shall be a feather in “Make in India” dream of India.”

Rajeev Joisar, Managing Director for India at Bombardier Transportation, said, “The new metro cars will be locally designed and built, and the rail control will be equipped by our project delivery teams in India. With this award, Bombardier becomes the only rail supplier in India chosen to deliver the broad portfolio of rail solutions for Indian customers in the segments of Metro and Commuter cars, Rail Equipment, Signalling Systems and Services.”

He added, “We look forward to bringing our innovative, safe and reliable mobility solutions to Agra and Kanpur’s citizens and to making a major positive impact on the local environment and economy.”

The Agra and Kanpur metro rail projects will have two corridors each connecting major public nodes, tourist places including the Taj Mahal, and city cluster areas, resulting in a sustainable and reliable public transport system for the two cities. For the four million people in Kanpur and the two million people in Agra, the metro will bring improved connectivity and an enhanced passenger experience.

The project will be executed in accordance with country’s ‘Make in India’ guidelines, with the trains being manufactured at Bombardier’s Savli and Maneja sites near Vadodara in India. The rolling stock will be designed at the Global Engineering and Technology Centre in Hyderabad, India, the official statement said.

In India, Bombardier is one of the largest rolling stock providers and the largest signalling solution supplier to Delhi Metro, one of the world’s leading metro operators. Since 2007, some 816 metro cars have been ordered and more than 140 km of metro lines have been equipped with Bombardier’s signalling technology. In addition to the CITYFLO 650 solution installed on Delhi’s lines 7 and 9, Delhi Metro lines 5 and 6 are equipped with Bombardier’s CITYFLO 350 signalling solution.

This is the second major contract for Bombardier in India this year. In May 2020, Bombardier announced that it had won the contract to build and deliver 30 regional commuter trainsets of six-cars each and 10 intracity mass transit trainsets of three-cars each, together with 15 years of rolling stock maintenance for the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut semi-high-speed rail corridor of the Regional Rapid Transport System (RRTS) from India’s National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC).