INDIA: Third rail electrification and power supplies for Kolkata’s east-west metro line are to be supplied by Siemens Mobility under a contract from Kolkata Metro Rail Corp announced on March 17.

Siemens is to provide the 750 V DC traction power supply, with nine substations and the depot to be fed from a 33 kV AC medium-voltage ring; power will be provided by Calcutta Electric Supply Corp. Siemens will install a Scada system to monitor and control the entire power supply network, together with a Sitras SMS stray-current monitoring system to minimise any risk of corrosion damage. The deal includes project management, design, installation and commissioning, plus staff training and maintenance for a three-year warranty period.

Now under construction, the city’s second metro line linking Salt Lake Sector V to Howrah Maidan will have 12 stations, and is expected to open in two phases. The 5·8 km elevated Salt Lake Sector V – Sealdah section, with six stations is due to open in October 2013. The remaining 8·9 km runs underground, including a tunnel under the Hooghly River, and is due for completion by the end of 2014. The completed line is expected to carry around 480 000 passengers per day.

Siemens entered the Indian metro market in 2004 with a contract for signalling and communications on Delhi Metro Line 3. In October 2008 it won contracts for signalling, electrification and baggage handling systems on the 23 km Delhi Airport Rail Link, which opened last month. Siemens is also supplying a complete automated metro line to connect Gurgaon Cyber City with the Delhi Metro under a turnkey project to be completed in 2012. ‘With this new order, we are strengthening our foothold on the subcontinent’, said Jörg Schneppendahl, CEO of the Complete Transportation Business Unit.