Nagpur: China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC), which had bagged the tender of supplying 69 coaches (23 trains) to Nagpur Metro, has not yet delivered 12 coaches even after an extended deadline of January 2021 from September 2020. The deadline was extended to January 2021 due to the pandemic.
“The Port of Dalian where the CRRC manufactures its coaches has been hit by another wave of the pandemic. As a result, the corporation authorities have informed us that they will deliver the remaining 12 coaches by February end or beginning of March 2021,” said an official.
A MahaMetro official said that the Metro agency would take action against the CRRC after studying the agreement if at all it has contravened any clause.
As per the detailed project report (DPR), the cost of 69 coaches was Rs848 crore. However, the CRRC bagged the tender by quoting a cost of Rs718 crore, a saving of Rs130 crore for MahaMetro. Out of Rs718 crore, MahaMetro has so far paid Rs400 crore to the CRRC.
The MahaMetro official said that the delay in arrival of 12 coaches had not affected Nagpur Metro operations. “At present, we are running services on Reach I (Sitabuldi to Khapri) and Reach III (Sitabuldi to Lokmanya Nagar). For this 57 coaches (19 trains) are sufficient. We will start trains on Reach II (Sitabuldi to Automotive Square) and Reach IV (Sitabuldi to Prajapati Nagar) in December 2021. By then, the remaining 12 coaches will certainly reach Nagpur,” he said.
The original deadline for completion of Nagpur Metro project was December 2020 but It was extended to June 2021 due to the pandemic. Recently, MahaMetro managing director Brijesh Dixit announced that the project would be completed by December 2021.
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Feeder shuttle at airport
MahaMetro and Mihan India Limited (MIL) have decided to start a feeder shuttle bus between Airport Metro station and the airport terminal for Metro passengers. The cost of a ticket of the shuttle will be Rs10.
The cost of ticket from Sitabuldi station to Airport station is also Rs10. Thus, it will be possible for Nagpurians to travel to airport from Sitabuldi by paying just Rs20.
The shuttle will be air-conditioned and will have ample space to keep luggage. It will ply between 8am and 8pm, the timings of Nagpur Metro. The shuttle will be an electric vehicle.