Bombardier to supply Mumbai's locals

The next set of local trains to arrive in Mumbai will most probably be made by Germany-based transportation major Bombardier Transportation. Sources say that Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi has signed the files pertaining to the tender floated by Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) in December for 72 twelve-coach local trains. On Wednesday, the file pertaining to the new trains was forwarded to the World Bank authorities whose approval will finally seal the deal. The new Bombardier rakes will have modernised features including an all-stainless steel body making the coaches corrosion-free. They will also be able to withstand high speeds from 110 to 130 kilometres per hour among other features. The new coaches will also have GPS systems which will allow the passenger to gauge the distance between stations. “The panel that provides information on at stations in the current rakes will also give the distance,” said a top railway official. The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai where the coaches will be built, and the Ahmedabad-based National Institute of Design are already in the process of discussing design changes like better seats and colourful interiors for the locals. The acceptance of bids for the tender was made amidst much drama on December 7 last year when Siemens Ltd., the company which had supplied the earlier batch of 131 locals, moved High Court to stall the tender process. Siemens Ltd had also wanted to participate in the new bidding process. However the HC had then allowed MRVC to go ahead with the tender process. A total of 10 international transportation consortiums including CSR China, BHEL, Alstom, Mitsubishi and Bombardier gave in their bids.