NDIA: 

With tendering well underway for the first phase of the Bangalore metro,

Delhi Metro Rail Corp has been appointed as consultant for Phase II.
Phase I consists of two routes running north-south and east-west, intersecting at
Majestic. The 33 km standard gauge line will have 35 stations. The 14.9 km north-south line
will run from Yeshwanthpur to R V Road Terminal. The east-west line will be 18.1 km long,
starting from Baiyappanahalli Terminal and finishing at Mysore Road. Whilst most will be
elevated, the central sections of both lines will be underground.
For implementation purposes the elevated sections have been divided into four 'reaches'. R-1
covers the first 7 km from Baiyappanahalli Terminal to M G Road which is already under
construction. R-2 covers the western part from City Railway Station to Mysore Road. R-3 is
the northern section of the N-S corridor from Yeshwantpur to Swastik while R-4 is the
southern extremity from K R Road to R V Road. The network is due to be completed in
stages between March 2010 and December 2011.
Bangalore Metro Rail Corp has launched tenders for the construction of four elevated
stations on R-1 and the depot and workshop at Baiyappanahalli. BMRC is currently
evaluating offers to construct the viaducts on Reaches 2, 3 and 4.
A rolling stock supplier was due to be selected by the end of September. Alstom and the
BEML consortium, which includes Mitsubishi and Rotem, have been shortlisted for a
contract to supply around 120 cars, valued at Rs7bn. The air-conditioned trains, formed of
three cars with a capacity of 1 000 passengers, will have a maximum speed of 80 km/h.
The five pre-qualified bidders for the signalling, train control and communications contract
were named last month as: Bombardier Transportation and ST Electronics; Larsen & Toubro
with Kyosan and Alcatel Shanghai Bell; Alstom with Thales and Sumitomo; Siemens; and
Mitsubishi, GE and Hitachi. Bids are to be submitted by November 5.
The cost of the project, to be built on an Engineering Procurement & Construction basis, is
around Rs64bn, with the governments of Gol and Karnataka each contributing 15%. Another
25% will come from subordinated debt and the remainder will be long-term debt.
DMRC is expected to submit a detailed project report for Phase II within eight months. The
city's comprehensive transport plan, prepared by RITES, recommends the construction of two
more corridors. The first would run for 36 km between Peripheral Ring Road and Yelahanka,
intersecting with the E-W line at M G Road. The other would link Indiranagar and
Whitefield. Extensions to both Phase I routes have also been recommended.

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Section: INTELLIGENCE
URBAN RAIL
INDIA: On September 16 Bangalore Metro Rail Corp signed a €91m contract for signalling
and train control on its first two lines with a consortium of Alstom, Thales and Sumitomo.
Consortium leader Alstom says its share of the package is worth around €57m. This covers
the supply, installation and commissioning of Urbalis 200 automatic train control, which had
previously been supplied for Delhi metro lines 1 and 2.
Bangalore's first two lines totalling 33 km are scheduled to open in September 2012.

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Section: CITY NEWS
INDIAN Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone for the
Rs64bn Bangalore metro project on June 24, paving the way for the start of construction in
October.
'I hope this project will become a milestone in Bangalore's progress', said the Prime
Minister, adding that 'we must start planning for further expansion with an eye on the future
needs of this vibrant city'. With its population now exceeding seven million, Bangalore is
suffering from growing road congestion and air pollution.
The standard-gauge network will comprise an 18·1 km east-west line linking Mysore Road
with Byappanahalli and 14·9 km north-south route from Yeshwantpur to R V Road. Around
6 km will be underground and the remainder at grade or elevated. There will be 32 stations in
total, of which seven will be underground. Bangalore MetroRail Corp expects to open the
first phase in December 2009, and the remainder by 2011.
Funding for the project is being raised through a mix of equity and debt, including a Rs16bn
soft loan from Japan Bank for International Co-Operation. The Indian government and the
state of Karnataka will each invest about Rs15bn, and the remaining Rs18bn will be raised
from banks and financial institutions.
A fleet of three-car trainsets will run at headways of around 4 rain, giving a peak hour
capacity of around 40 000 passengers/h in each direction.

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Section: Selling Points
There are no mangoes or limes, either, in the produce section at Metro's store
in Bangalore. But there are a lot of Indian politics on display.
It started when the German cash-and-carry outlet opened its doors in late 2003 on the
outskirts of India's Silicon Valley (pop. 6.5 million), which is replete with the old ways of the
country as well as the new. Metro is situated at the junction of a well-tarred main road in
Yeshwantpur, a sleepy suburb northwest of Bangalore where the main commercial activity
until a few years ago was the mandi--a government-demarcated market where wholesale
traders sell spices, grains, fruits and vegetables. Now it is the testing ground for
multinationals. Just behind the Metro outlet lies Royal Dutch/Shell's first gas station in India.
Fruit and vegetable traders, in league with small-village satraps, created a ruckus
when Metro--the first foreign retailer to test the Indian market-opened its initial store
here. Bangalore retailers took out half-page ads in local newspapers comparing the German
retailer to the infamous East India Company, the foreign merchants who paved the way for
Britain's colonization of the subcontinent. A lawsuit--declaring that the cash-and-carry
concept was retailing disguised as wholesaling-made it all the way to the high court in New
Delhi before it was tossed out. Metro's first customers had to cross lines of angry picketers to
enter the store.
The protests ceased only when vested interests discovered a centuries-old act prohibiting
produce sales outside of the mandi, like the one down the road from Metro.The protectionists
had their legal roadblock for the moment.
At the mandi, fruits and vegetables are strewn on footpaths used occasionally for
urinating. Long lines of trucks, vans and pushcarts jam the narrow roads where bare-bodied
men, sweating under a hot sun, load large brown sacks. Flies hover.
Back at Metro, the store is clean, the air-conditioning is powerful, and room-size freezers
keep meats fresh. There are shopping carts and broad, clear aisles-and no flies.The checkout
clerks wear the Indian version of Metro's corporate uniform--blue-and-yellow saris--and pass
out receipts with every purchase.
"We never get proper bills at Chikpet [a crowded, dusty wholesale market stocked with
fabrics, plastic goods and electronics]," says Nicholas Roy, an air force officer
andMetro customer. "How do we explain to audit committees about prices scribbled on plain
paper?" Roy is wheeling out 14 Metro trolleys filled with pencil boxes, plastic bottles,
chocolates, chips and lunch boxes for the Air Force Wives Welfare Association, a nonprofit.
Metro buys directly from willing farmers and fishermen and threatens a decades-old
agricultural-marketing structure thick with middlemen, moneylenders and politicians.With so
many actors, more than a quarter of India's fruits and vegetables spoil before they even make
it to market, says Metro Chief Hans-Joachim Körber. "If India could manage this better, it
could be an exporter of produce."
The protracted battle is hurting Metro in India. The caterers, hoteliers and shopkeepers who
shop at Metro can still find fish and meat there, but it is produce that would give Metro the
volumes necessary to keep prices low. In other countries perishables make up 60% of sales.
Metro plans to invest $400 million over five years to open outlets in Kolkata, Chennai,
Punjab, Hyderabad and New Delhi, but not until its shelves are well stocked with local
produce. Agriculture rules are different in every state, and interpretation of the rules often
depends on who is in office. In 2003 the federal government began circulating a new act that
would scrap the ancient trading rules. But two years later there are still no bananas for sale
at Metro's Bangalore outlet.
~~~~~~~~
By Dinakar Sethuraman

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individual use.
Bangalore Metro Rail Corp invited bids last month for prequalification to design and supply
a fleet of 39 three-car EMUs to operate the city's planned 750?V DC standard-
gauge metro network. The 18?1?km east-west line and 14?9?km north-south line will be
mostly elevated, with 6?8?km in tunnel below the city centre. Closing date for expressions of
interest is May 30.
~~~~~~~~
By Chris Jackson

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