Full Steam Ahead!

Sudhir Rao, Md, India, Bombardier Transportation, Elaborates On His Company’s Starring Role In Infusing A Renewed Momentum In Modern India’s Ambitious Rail Journey.

- Mitalee Kurdekar

FOR YEARS, INDIA’S RAIL STORY WAS limited to a singular chapter: the technology brought in and the network laid out during the British Raj. While the same stood the country in good stead for the better part of half a century, it was high time a new chapter was etched into the pages of this book. And that time has now come. As India makes strides towards a modern rail network, it has attracted a lot of attention – and investments – from international players in the domain. One such name is Canadian rail equipment maker Bombardier Transportation.

The company was one of the first overseas entrants to the Indian market, and in 1993, Bombardier’s electric locomotive technology was introduced in the Indian Railways network. In the 25 years since, it has crossed a multitude of milestones. In 1997, it began producing propulsion and controls equipment for the Indian Railways, through its Propulsion and Controls Production and Development Centre at the Maneja site, near Vadodara, while also supporting other rolling stock projects. And, more recently, it aided in India’s transition to an advanced transportation nation with the setting up of a state-of-the-art facility in Savli, near Vadodara, and the subsequent supply of Bombardier coaches to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) from 2009. In fact, it has since reached a remarkable manufacturing rate of one car per day for the DMRC rolling stock order. Yet, the story has only just begun.

“With the basic foundation established, our goal now is to scale up. The way we are doing that is by enhancing our engineering strength,” states Sudhir Rao, MD, India, Bombardier Transportation. In this respect, the company set up a new engineering centre in Hyderabad in 2017, which hosts the development of two important rolling stock products, one specifically for metro rail projects and the other for regular commuter trains.