Delhi
Transportation
Rail Stories
India’s capital Delhi is the centre of the National Capital Territory of Delhi Region (NCR), one of the fastest-growing and biggest metropolitan regions in the world with a current population of 18 million. Despite a very high proportion of non-motorised road users travelling by rickshaw and bicycle, the NCR is suffering from the consequences of growing motorised transport. Traffic jams and severe pollution such as noise, particulates and CO2 emissions are impacting the health of Delhi’s inhabitants.
For decades, buses were the only available means of public mass transit. With its gradually expanding route network, the Delhi Metro has offered modern, comfortable, safe and healthy mobility in the capital since the start of this millennium. “All our Metro trains have proved to be very efficient, comfortable and reliable. The comfort of travel is one of the main reasons for the popularity of the Delhi Metro,” says Anuj Dayal, Executive Director, Corporate Communications, Delhi Metro. “The Delhi Metro today is the mass transportation backbone of the entire NCR region. We are carrying close to three million people every day and the numbers will further increase in the coming years.” The underground system mastered its first major international test in 2010, the year in which the Indian capital hosted the Commonwealth Games.
4 million passengers a day are expected to use the Delhi Metro by 2018 following the completion of another stage on the network. At the present time, the figure is around 3 million customers a day.
Since the earliest days of the Delhi Metro, Bombardier Transportation has delivered hundreds of cars of its MOVIA platform, including the latest generation. And the advanced signalling system has fulfilled the requirements for a safe, highly efficient and energy-saving operation from the very beginning. In addition, the Delhi Metro is remarkably climate-neutral, emphasises Delhi Metro’s Dayal: “Use of green technology has been one of the benchmarks of our overall functioning. All our trains are absolutely non-polluting. Our new stations are also being constructed as green buildings. Solar energy is something we are focusing a lot on. Currently Delhi Metro is producing 17 MWp of solar energy through solar plants at its premises. It plans to produce 50 MWp of solar power by the year 2021.”
50 cities in India will have more than two million inhabitants by 2050 and will need modern, climate-neutral rail transport systems to safeguard regional mobility, according to the Indian government. Experts anticipate that 5,000 additional metro vehicles will be purchased for the existing systems in next five years alone.
776 vehicles from Bombardier Transportation will be operated by the Delhi Metro by early next year. Another 162 cars are getting added to the existing fleet of 614.
Bombardier continues to play a key role in the ongoing expansion of the Delhi Metro network. The Indian production facilities deliver high quality products and are increasingly being utilised for exporting products and solutions across the entire Asia/Pacific region. For example. the CITYFLO 650 driverless communication-based train control (CBTC) solution is being installed on the 58km-long line 7 and has planned operational headways of 100 to 120 seconds.
The CITYFLO 350 semi-automatic train operation solution has been operating on Lines 5 and 6 since 2010, with further extensions now being equipped.
450 cars will be shipped from India to Queensland, Australia, in the next two years – the first major rolling stock export order for Bombardier Transportation’s manufacturing site in India.