Mumbai Metro to run in 30 months

MUMBAI: Mumbai Metro One Private Ltd, the special purpose vehicle created to build the metro along Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor said on Thursday the project is on fast track and would be completed in 30 months.
    
The company, while awarding three major contracts for the project said that it has already awarded major contracts ahead of stipulated time.
    
The company said, "With the commitment to provide state-of-the-art metro system to the people of Mumbai, the company has selected world's best contractors for thisproject. Moving at a rapid speed, Mumbai Metro is confident of completing the project in record 30 months time."
    
The company, a joint venture formed by Reliance Energy, Veolia Transport of France and MMRDA, today awarded three major contracts for automatic fare collection system, track work and communication systems.
    
The contract for the Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) systems has been awarded to Indra, Spain. It will be a closed loop system based on contactless smart card technology. Indra has commissioned similar work for Metro systems in Madrid,
Lisbon, Shanghai, Barcelona and Athens, the press note said.
    
The contract for track work has been awarded to VNC RailOne. While the contract for Communication Systems has been awarded to Thales, a French giant. It would instal Closed Circuit Camera system at all stations.
    
It will also install passenger information display, announcement and radio systems among others, the release said.