Two more Metro rakes from China reached the Calcutta port on Tuesday.
The 16 coaches, which arrived on MV Spring Shine at Netaji Subhas Dock, were unloaded on Tuesday, Calcutta Port Trust officials said. These were shipped from Dalian in China and manufactured by Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co.
The coaches will soon be assembled at a railway yard at the port and taken to the Noapara maintenance base by a diesel engine. Before being put into revenue operations, the trains will undergo a series of tests. It will take around two months between assembly and commissioning, said a Metro official.
“In phases, three vessels, Spring Mota, Galaxy Glory and Spring Shine, have so far brought Metro coaches from China to Calcutta,” said Sanjay Mukherjee, the spokesperson for SMP, Calcutta.
Before the latest arrivals, Metro Railway had 35 trains for the fleet that serves the Blue Line (Dakhsineswar-Kavi Subhash) and the Yellow Line (Noapara-Jai Hind).
Three more eight-coach Dalian rakes are due for arrival, said a Metro official.
“The Railway Board had first contracted the firm to build 14 rakes for Calcutta Metro in May 2015. With the commissioning of these two new rakes into commercial services, the number of Dalian rakes in the Metro fleet will be 11,” said a railway official.
For the under-construction Orange Line and Purple Line, more than 50 rakes will come in phases, said Metro sources.
The Orange Line, which will connect New Garia and the airport when fully functional, is now operational between New Garia and Beleghata. The Purple Line, which will connect Joka and Esplanade, now runs between Joka and Majerhat.
The first Dalian rakes were supposed to be delivered by October 2018. The first of the 14 rakes eventually arrived at the Calcutta port on March 3, 2019. It was inducted into the commercial fleet in March 2023.