India's subway is going to be "the second in the world"? Chinese companies bring train experience

Source: Global Times

Recently, India's Bangalore Metro finally no longer has to wait for Chinese engineers. According to India's News Asia, the first driverless train from Bengaluru arrived in mid-December, and 21 Chinese engineers who had been unable to obtain visas from the Indian side were finally allowed to go to India. Although the Chinese engineer visa has not been smooth, in fact, the Indian subway, which is moving towards the "second in the world", has not left the support of Chinese companies in terms of technology and talents, and Chinese trains are running on more and more Indian urban railways. Some experts said that the Indian government should stop erecting obstacles for Chinese companies in order to achieve greater development in the field of transportation infrastructure.

Chinese experts are indispensable

According to the New Indian Express, senior officials of the Bangalore Metro Corporation said that the new train was supposed to start running on November 20 but did not materialize because dozens of Chinese technicians were waiting for work visas from the Indian side. These Chinese experts will play a key role in the assembly and commissioning of the metro trains.

According to Indian officials, Chinese engineers and technicians will provide assistance in testing and operating the trains, and will also be responsible for guiding and assisting the Indian partner of the metro project, Titaga Rolling Stock Manufacturing Co., Ltd., in manufacturing the remaining trains. The new train was to be equipped with an advanced signalling system, which Indian technicians had no experience with. After the arrival of the first train in India, there were several subsequent Chinese train bodies that required some post-work by Chinese experts. In addition, the train warranty also needs to be completed with the assistance of Chinese enterprise personnel to be effective.

According to India's "The Believer", China has made many independent technological breakthroughs in unmanned subway technology in recent years, and the vehicles produced have become highly intelligent. In 2019, CRRC was awarded a contract worth 15.78 billion rupees (1.355 billion yuan) to supply 216 driverless metro buses for the Bangalore Metro. In addition to the initial batch, the Chinese company needs to find an Indian partner to produce the next 200 or so metro trains in India. The 19-kilometre Bengaluru Metro Elevated Yellow Line, which is involved in the project, has been delayed for a long time due to various factors, and may not be operational until February 2024. It is expected that the Bangalore MRT will add an average of 150,000 passengers per day when it is put into operation, and the current average daily passenger flow of the Bangalore Metro is 750,000. This will ensure that the Bangalore MRT network is the second largest in India.

Known as the "Silicon Valley of India", Bangalore has developed high-tech industries in recent years, and the city has expanded rapidly, attracting a large number of young people. To improve urban mobility, Bangalore has invested heavily in a quantum leap in infrastructure. According to India's Metro Today website, driverless metro trains from China will revolutionize transportation in Bangalore. Officials from the Bangalore Metro Group Limited said it would be a historic moment for driverless technology to be applied to India's metro for the first time. The minimum interval between two trains that can be supported by the current subway signaling system is two and a half minutes, while the driverless subway train can reduce this interval to less than 90 seconds.

There are Chinese trains in several cities

The Bangalore MRT project is seen as an important breakthrough for China in the Indian market. However, India's visa policy towards China has hampered the project's progress. According to Indian officials, India has only approved visa applications for some Chinese experts, delaying the progress of the project. Lin Minwang, a researcher at the Institute of International Studies of Fudan University, told the Global Times on the 21st that China has been India's largest project contractor for more than ten years, and India has a large number of infrastructure projects such as power and networks that are built by China. Lin Minwang said that whether it is urban infrastructure construction or overall economic development, India's suppression and obstruction of Chinese enterprises will slow down the speed of India's national development.

In fact, Chinese companies have brought high-quality and advanced rail transit service experience to India's metro. During their stay in India, Global Times reporters experienced the New Delhi Metro Phase 3 project undertaken by the Chinese company Tunnel Co., Ltd. and the operating vehicles provided by Chinese enterprises for Mumbai Metro Line 1. In terms of cleanliness and operation, these metro trains exported to India retain the same technical style and manufacturing process as China's domestic subways, and the carriages are spacious, bright, clean and tidy, with non-slip floors and longitudinal seats. The facilities are very user-friendly, and the LCD TV in the carriage plays a dynamic subway map and entertainment program without interruption. The in-car air conditioning system automatically controls the temperature through a temperature probe. The car is equipped with a first-aid kit, firefighting equipment, communication equipment, etc., and there is a special women's compartment. The metro station is very well equipped with various facilities, and the hygienic environment is significantly cleaner and tidier than that of the Indian railway station.

In addition to participating in the Bangalore Metro, Chinese companies are also manufacturing vehicles for other Indian city metros. For example, the 16 metro trains currently running on Metro Line 1 in Mumbai are manufactured by CRRC. This is the first time that a Chinese metro train has been exported to India. At present, CRRC has already secured metro projects in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore in India. The subways of Indian cities such as New Delhi and Noida also have Chinese trains running.

Expected to surpass the United States?

At present, India's urban rail transit is developing rapidly. According to the Times of India, India is on track to overtake the United States to become the world's second-largest metro network. In 2014, the total length of the metro in operation in India was only 248 km, and in 2023, the metro mileage in India has reached 895 km, distributed in 20 cities. Another 1,032 km of metro network has been approved, and the metro will be expanded to 27 cities by 2025.

Some analysts believe that the period of rapid progress in the construction of India's modern subway is almost synchronized with the time when Chinese companies are participating in India's rail projects. Wang Xinping, deputy general manager of STEC India Infrastructure Company, once told the Global Times that STEC and Larsente Lobo Group, India's largest civil engineering group company, have jointly undertaken the construction of the New Delhi Airport Express in 2007, and have also undertaken subway projects in New Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and other Indian cities.

The advanced technology and management experience of Chinese enterprises have brought a positive impact on the development of urban rail construction in India. The person in charge of the Chinese side once told the Global Times that when it first started business in India, India had little experience in building subways, and 90% of the equipment and parts had to be imported from China. At first, the Indian metro adopted the British technical standards, and now the Chinese standards have also been introduced, and the bidding documents and basic content of the Chinese company have been cited by the Indian side as the specification requirements of the bidding documents. During the construction process, the Indian side did not set up requirements for site hardening at first, while the Chinese company had higher requirements, and later the Indian side also adopted Chinese specifications to make specific provisions on construction site standards.

Singh, who was the project director of STEC India Partnership at the time, praised the Global Times, "The Chinese company has high work efficiency, guaranteed project quality, pays attention to environmental protection, and demonstrates very professional quality." Singh said that the Chinese company undertook the construction of the Indian Metro, supported the development of the Indian Metro, and promoted the construction of infrastructure in India.