Chennai Metro Rail Limited placed a €243m order with Alstom in 2010 for 42 four-car 25kV ac trains, which will enter service on the initial 45.1km two-line phase of the network in 2014-15.
The first train will be shipped from the port of Santos within the next few weeks and is due to arrive in Chennai at the beginning of June, where it will undergo a four-month programme of testing and commissioning.
The first nine trains are being built at Lapa, while the remaining 33 sets will be assembled at the new Sri City facility in Tamil Nadu, Alstom's first rolling stock assembly plant in India. Alstom has trained 65 Indian employees in Brazil in preparation for the transfer, and production is already underway on the domestically-produced trains.
Phase 1 of the Chennai Metro network comprises a 23.1km north-south line from Washermenpet to Chennai International Airport and a 22km east-west line from Chennai Central to St Thomas Mount. The two lines are designed for three-minute headways and will have capacity for up to 500,000 passengers per day.
