As is evident, supporting industries are also set to cater to the growing demand for metro projects. For instance, BEML has supplied metro coaches to Delhi Metro, Bengaluru Metro, Jaipur Metro and Kolkata Metro (East-West project). In fact, over 50 per cent of metro coaches being operated by DMRC are manufactured by BEML. Currently, the company is executing contracts for the supply of metro train sets to Bangalore Metro and Kolkata Metro and driverless metro coaches to Mumbai Metro’s Line 2 and 7 projects. Further, the company is bidding for the supply of metro coaches to Phase 2 of Pune Metro and Bengaluru Metro. “Metro coaches save on electric energy owing to regenerative braking, have lower carbon emissions and are environment-friendly,” says Deepak Kumar Hota, Chairman & Managing Director, BEML. “The most modern driverless metro coaches result in maximum utilisation of the available network and are a safe mode of transportation.”  Otis India recently won an order for Bengaluru Metro for elevators, where units will be provided from its Bengaluru factory. The company also has 542 units at Hyderabad Metro, the largest order in the history of the elevator and escalator industry. It also recently commissioned 232 units for operation at Delhi Metro. “Metros have also turned to Otis’s flagship product, the Gen2 ® elevator,” says Sebi Joseph, President, Otis India. “Gen2 is designed to increase the elevator’s efficiency, safety and reliability with key components that include a coated steel belt, as well as the ReGen drive, permanent magnet machine and PULSE monitoring system.” To help effectively manage all the elevators at a metro or railway station, Otis offers the Web-based EMS Panorama system that enables building staff to monitor, control and report on a full range of operation-critical functions for an elevator and escalator from any computer with an Internet connection. Elevators and escalators installed at metros and railways are designed and adapted for use in public spaces considering heavy peaks and other traffic patterns throughout the day. Robbins TBMs have been successfully used in projects in Delhi Metro and Jaipur Metro, as well as a water transfer tunnel of 8.3 km in Mumbai, establishing an Indian tunnelling record of 870 m in a month – the entire tunnelling was completed in 18 months. Recently, two Robbins 6.65-m crossover TBMs have been deployed in Mumbai Metro Package 1, performing over 250 m per machine per month. And Mumbai Metro Package 3 has two Robbins 6.65-m slurry TBMs running in its starting stages. Commenting on the Bangalore Metro, Kapil Bhati, Managing Director, Robbins India, “We have completed back-to-back operations on per-metre basis, including all manpower and procurement of material for the complete drives from Chickpet to Majestic Drive in the difficult geology of Bengaluru Metro Phase 1,” adds.For Nagpur Metro, Siemens provided the modular and future-proven Trainguard MT automatic train control system. The East-West Corridor will have 19 stations and the North-South Corridor 17 stations, linking the airport with the Automotive Square at the north of the city. The communications-based train control (CBTC) solution can enable headways of 90 seconds or less with precise train detection achieved through a digitalised track database, enabling an increase in the frequency of trains. “The metro will play a pivotal role in enhancing quality of life and economic growth of the city and region,” avers Tilak Raj Seth, Executive Vice-President, Siemens and CEO, Mobility Division. “Mobility is an area of expertise for us and Siemens will continue to partner with the government to help improve connectivity and public infrastructure.”Meanwhile, Voltas has successfully completed and handed over eight underground stations of DMRC and its execution work for the TVS package for six underground stations of Kolkata Metro is in progress. The company has executed works for 19 underground stations of Chennai Metro (station air-conditioning for all 19 stations and electrical and mechanical (E&M) works for seven out of these 19 stations), eight underground stations in Delhi Metro (station air-conditioning and tunnel ventilation works) and E&M works for six elevated stations in Kolkata Metro. “We are now in a position to offer ECS, TVS and E&M packages, which are the major services packages, for upcoming metro projects,” says B Ravindranath, Senior General Manager-Infrastructure Projects, Voltas. “It gives us a competitive advantage in the sense that only Voltas, and a few others, have credentials to qualify for such tenders on their own.”SHRIYAL SETHUMADHAVAN