A new rake from China was included in the Metro fleet on the New Garia-Dakshineswar corridor (Blue Line) on Monday.
Two rakes manufactured by CNR Dalian Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co. reached Calcutta on May 22. They were assembled near a railway yard at the port and taken to the Noapara maintenance base by a diesel engine.
The Monday induction followed a series of trials, said Metro officials.
“One of the Dalian rakes, MR-513, started its maiden commercial run from Dum Dum at 12.06pm on Monday. The train reached New Garia at 12.55pm,” said a Metro official.
Dalian rakes have wider doors than the existing AC rakes. “They also have greater seating capacity, better air conditioning and noise-reduction features,” said the official.
The Railway Board had first contracted the firm to build 14 rakes for Calcutta Metro in May 2015. The rakes were supposed to have been delivered by October 2018.
But a design approval from the central Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) delayed the process, said sources in the railways.
The first of the 14 rakes arrived at the Calcutta port on March 3, 2019, breaking the monopoly of the Integral Coach Factory, the sole supplier to Calcutta Metro. But it was inducted into the commercial fleet after four years, in March 2023.
Railway officials attributed the delay to pending clearances because of Covid. “The first Chinese rake was a prototype and needed extensive trials,” said the official.
The carrier now has 32 trains in its operational fleet — 18 Medha rakes, 13 made at BHEL and two Dalian rakes. The entire fleet is air-conditioned.