Sydney's fully-automated, driverless metro trains are powered by Make in India

In a milestone for the 'Make in India' initiative, coaches assembled in the country will be running in the Sydney Metro line. The Australian city has recently opened its first driverless metro line that will be served by 22 Alstom six-coach trains. These trains were assembled in Andhra Pradesh under the Make in India initiative. In December 2018, Alstom delivered the last of the 22 Metropolis trains for Sydney Metro from Alstom's Sri City facility in Andhra Pradesh.

The driverless Sydney Metro trains are fully automated and consist of various modern features including LED lighting, emergency intercoms, CCTV cameras, real-time travel information, double-doors and more. The signalling system of Urbalis 400 minimizes the halt time at stations as well as the time between each service.

According to Alstom's press release, the company was given a contract by North West Rail Link (NRT) to design, manufacture, supply, test and commission 22 six-car Metropolis trains along with Urbalis 400 signalling systems. Alstom was also given the responsibility to manage the project. Along with this, the company won a 15-year maintenance contract for the trains, depot operations as well as the signalling systems.

In a bid to see through the contract, the firm's engineering hub in Bengaluru adapted the Metropolis trains and the Urbalis 400 system for the Sydney Metro.

"Sydney has now joined other great cities of the world (including Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Singapore) that benefit every day from Alstom's metro solutions. The fully automated driver-less metro is a first for Australia and will provide a step-change for the commuters of Sydney," said Ling Fang, Senior Vice-President for Alstom in Asia-Pacific.

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