Numerous companies have begun bidding for electrification and the production of driverless trains that can operate on the Lighthouse-Poonamallee bypass corridor's phase-2 network as it takes shape. Alstom Transport, BEML, and Titagarh Wagons were named bidders for manufacturing 26 three-car driverless trains or 78 coaches to be operated on the corridor after Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) opened technical bids earlier this week. Seven companies also submitted bids to install overhead equipment (OHE), which is required to power trains on the route and at the Poonamallee depot. On the 26.1 km Lighthouse to Poonamallee bypass, there are 30 stations, including 13 underground stations. According to an official, the plan is to open the elevated section from Power House to Poonamallee bypass first by 2025, keeping the train fleet at the Poonamallee depot while the rest of the corridors are opened in a few months. The contract for laying tracks on the corridor has already been awarded by CMRL. Officials claimed, however, that the contractor for train manufacturing and electrification work would be chosen after the technical bids were evaluated and financial bids were opened to reveal the lowest bidder. The elevated corridor on the Porur-Poonamallee bypass segment is nearly complete, according to officials, with pillars placed in the middle of the Mount-Poonamallee Road for a distance of about three kilometres. In the casting yards, work on viaducts that will be installed on pillars to support ballast-less rails has begun. Construction work for the project will be diverted from the Chennai bypass junction to Kumananchavadi junction, according to the municipal traffic police on Saturday. Metro trains will connect the city's central areas, such as Mylapore, Nandanam, T Nagar, Kodambakkam, and Vadapalani, with the city's west developing suburbs, such as Porur, Iyyappanthangal, Kumanan Chavadi, and the Poonamallee bypass, which are currently underserved by public transportation, when the 26.1-km corridor opens to the public. Image Source Also read: Construction work on Phase-2 Metro rail to begin soon in Chennai