Turnkey Metro Line from Siemens Begins Operation in Gurgaon, India
Rapid MetroRail Gurgaon Limited has commenced passenger operation on the six-kilometer metro line in Gurgaon, in the metropolitan area of Delhi. Siemens supplied all of the rail technology, from the trains and the electrification systems, through the installation of the service workshop and the signal technology, to the system integration. The line links Gurgaon Cyber City, a business and residential district located some 30 kilometers south of central Delhi, to the capital’s metro network. The existing line will be extended by around seven kilometers to the south by the end of 2015. In summer of this year, Siemens was also awarded the contract to implement this extension as a turnkey rail system.
Around two million commuters travel by metro every day in India’s second largest city. The line that has just been opened for revenue service is built to cope with an expected volume of approximately 30,000 passengers per hour, with each three-car train providing a maximum transport capacity of about 800 passengers. The Gurgaon metro line marks the first time that Siemens not only supplied subsystems in India, but was also responsible for the key components and their integration, including the interfaces, in the construction of a turnkey rail system.
Metro Trains Reach Top Speed
The seven aluminium metro trains supplied by Siemens run on a standard-gauge track with a maximum speed of around 80 kilometers per hour. To achieve a headway of no more than 120 seconds during peak traffic times, Siemens has installed Sicas ECC type electronic interlocking, the LZB 700 M automatic train control system with ATP (Automatic Train Protection) and ATO (Automatic Train Operations), as well as the Vicos OC 501 ATS (Automatic Train Supervision) system. To fully electrify the new line, Siemens has installed a 750 V DC traction power supply along with a third-rail system for current collection. Power is fed into the line extension and the rest of the existing line from the 66 kV grid. A medium-voltage ring supplies four substations, six metro stations and the depot with 11 kV AC.
Siemens is currently constructing turnkey lines in Rennes (France) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) as well as the tram system for Doha, the capital city of Qatar. Lines already in operation are the fully automatic, driverless Line A in Rennes (France), Line 1 in Algiers (Algeria), Line 2 in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) and the metro system in Uijeongbu (South Korea).