Alstom has begun manufacturing a set of 96 Metropolis driverless metro cars for Chennai Metro Phase II at its Sri City facility in Andhra Pradesh.
Developed under a 135 million EUR contract awarded by Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) in 2025; the cars will eventually enter service on the Chennai Metro Phase II, which is set to span roughly 119km over 76km of elevated and 34km of underground routes across three corridors and their inter-corridor sections.
As part of the contract, Alstom will manufacture 32 metro trainsets in three-car configurations, as well as provide 15 years of comprehensive maintenance following the warranty period.
The Metropolis train cars were designed under the ‘Make in India’ initiative at Alstom’s engineering centre in Bengaluru (Karnataka), and were built at the world-class facility in Sri City (Andhra Pradesh).
Olivier Loison, Managing Director, Alstom India said:We value our long-standing partnership with CMRL. Our work together began with Chennai’s first metro rail project which also led to the setting up of our Sri City facility to build trains for Chennai Metro Phase I.
From modern metro trains to advanced driverless trains, we are proud to contribute to CMRL’s urban rail mobility ambitions. The recent delivery completion of the 108 cars for corridor 4, and now the start of production of additional trainsets reinforces our enduring association with CMRL today and for the future.
Specifically configured for Grade of Automation 4 (GoA4) driverless operations with a maximum operational speed of 80km/h; Alstom’s Metropolis trains come equipped with regenerative braking and advanced cybersecurity. Each three-car trainset is capable of accommodating up to 900 passengers, and features air conditioning, perch seats, CCTV cameras, real-time passenger information displays, and dedicated spaces for women and differently abled commuters.
This milestone follows the completion and delivery of all 36 Metropolis trainsets powering the commencement of revenue passenger operations on Phase II’s 26 km Corridor 4, which connects Poonamallee Bypass to Light House across 28 stations – 18 of which are elevated and 10 are underground.
Valued at 102 million EUR and awarded in 2023; the Corridor 4 contract concerned the design, manufacturing, testing, commissioning, and training, and all delivered were finalised in October 2026.
Since being given its first contract by CMRL in 2010, Alstom has thus far delivered 208 metro cars for Phase 1. Alstom, in consortium with Larsen & Toubro, also constructed track work covering 86 track kilometres across Corridors I and II.
