Bombardier’s First MOVIA Car for Delhi Metro Touches down in India

New MOVIA Designed and Constructed for Optimum Environmental Operation

The first vehicle in the new high-technology fleet of BOMBARDIER MOVIA metro cars, ordered by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for its Phase II expansion, has arrived today in the capital of India. In order to meet the challenging project deadlines, the first vehicle was built in an extremely short 18-month period. It was transported directly from Germany to India in an Antonov aircraft, where it was received by DMRC, Bombardier Transportation representatives and the media at Delhi International Airport.

The first MOVIA train-set will commence track tests in March while the service introduction is scheduled for the second week in June. The first 36 vehicles for DMRC will be built in Goerlitz, Germany and the following 388 cars in Savli, India, where Bombardier has recently inaugurated a modern railway vehicle manufacturing facility. With an investment valued at 33 million euros, this greenfield facility will directly employ 750 people and indirectly generate approximately 3,000 jobs in the region.

The arrival of the first MOVIA car is a significant milestone for two major reasons; first, DMRC has ambitious targets to expand its metro service in time for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, where the environmentally friendly fleet of 424 state-of-the-art MOVIA vehicles ordered to date will play a vital role in increasing sustainable mobility; second, the project is to be carried out in the new, large-scale manufacturing plant in India, the first of its type wholly owned by a private company in the country. Present at the airport was Dr. E. Sreedharan, Managing Director, DMRC as well as Stéphane Rambaud-Measson, President, Passengers Division, Kristian Mikkelsen, President, Asia, Passengers Division, and Rajeev Jyoti, President and Managing Director, India, all from Bombardier Transportation.

During the arrival of the new MOVIA vehicle, Stéphane Rambaud-Measson declared, “We, at Bombardier, are very proud of delivering our high quality vehicles to Dehli Metro. I would like to congratulate the Bombardier employees located here in India as well as those from other engineering and manufacturing sites in Europe, like Goerlitz in Germany and Västerås in Sweden for their amazing performance and dedicated participation in this project.”

Ensuring that its world-class standards and practices are maintained across the board, the workforce being recruited by Bombardier in India is receiving training and support both in Savli and in Goerlitz. In following the production line process of the first 36 vehicles in Germany, the newly recruited staff in India will be able to acquire all the necessary skills to duplicate the process at the Savli site where they will be involved in training their co-workers in India. For many of them, it will be their first trip away from home and a life-changing experience where they will be learning new skills as well as adapting to a completely different culture.

Rajeev Jyoti also present said, “This moment is a truly historic one for Bombardier in India. It represents the success of our efforts here over the last 35 years, and is a sign of how much more we can achieve together with the Indian railway operators in terms of sustainable, eco-friendly mobility in the future. We are honored to have among us today our partners in this current endeavor and representatives from the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to share this momentous occasion with us.”

Bombardier products supporting the sustainable mobility of an expanding city
To counter the dramatic rise of Delhi’s population from 0.6 million to 14 million people over the last years, the first line of New Delhi’s Metro network opened in December 2002. Phase I consisted of 3 lines totaling 65 km with Phase II, now under construction, representing an additional 125 km. In phase II of the expansion of Delhi Metro, the modern MOVIA high-capacity vehicles will transport an impressive 4 million passengers every day.

The high capacity MOVIA vehicles will form an integral element of these expansion plans to meet the anticipated increase in passengers and are designed to comfortably accommodate some 1,480 passengers per four car train unit. Air conditioning is included for the comfort of the passengers and driver. CCTV and open gangways ensure security and visibility throughout the train. In addition, emergency speaker units, installed on the vehicles, will provide passengers with the opportunity to communicate directly with the driver. The safety egress door via the driver’s cab also allows for easy passenger evacuation in the event of an emergency.

The vehicles incorporate BOMBARDIER MITRAC Propulsion and Control system, featuring IP technology, a sophisticated passenger information system that includes predefined messages and notification of upcoming stations as well as a digital route map highlighting journey progress. A vital differentiator is the fact that the vehicles are designed and constructed for optimum environmental operation, entailing solutions that are part of the innovative BOMBARDIER ECO4 portfolio of technologies launched by the global rail leader last year. Such outcomes are lower energy consumption, minimal noise emissions and recyclability levels of up to 90%. Overall, the new ECO4 portfolio offers energy and cost-efficient solutions for total train performance with the possibility of saving up to 50 percent energy.

Concluding on his remarks, Rajeev Jyoti also declared, “The touchdown of the Antonov in New Delhi heralds a new era of progress for the Indian railway industry, of which Bombardier is proud to be a part.”