India’s Kochi metro starts service with Alstom-made trains

French company Alstom has announced the inauguration of the first phase of Kochi Metro by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi in Kerala, India.

The Alstom-built Metropolis trains were designed in Bangalore and manufactured at Sri City, India, as part of the €150m project.

The trains were delivered to Kochi Metro Rail (KMRL) and have 136 seats, with the capacity to carry up to 975 passengers. They feature wide gangways and longitudinal seating arrangements to enable passengers to walk from one end of the train to the other to optimise transport capacity and facilitate easy boarding.

Kochi metro is said to be the first Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) system-based metro in India.

The movement of the locomotives will be controlled by Alstom’s Urbalis 400, which will enable the safe running of a greater number of trains at higher speeds on the line.

The company has also provided the telecom facility to the metro service with a third rail-based 750VDC power supply solution, along with the associated SCADA system.

Kochi Metro Rail transport managing director and additional chief secretary Elias George said: “Our goal was to deliver an innovative and effective mobility solution for the people of Kochi.

“Alstom’s smart solutions have helped us meet that aim. Their end-to-end services and close attention to our needs ensured there the lead time was extremely competent and no gaps were caused by multiple-party involvement.”

The trains are equipped with air-conditioning and real-time passenger information systems to ensure passenger comfort.

Fire and smoke detection systems, CCTV and multiple USB charging points for mobiles have also been installed on-board the newly introduced rolling stock.

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Image: Kochi metro. Photo: © Copyright ALSTOM.