Chennai Metro Rail Limited sticks with blue as the colour for trains to be acquired for the phase II project

CMRL opts for blue as colour for Phase II trains. 414 coaches needed initially, 1,600 capacity for 6-coach trains. Women to have exclusive half of a coach. First train to arrive Aug 2021, trials to follow.

Among red, black, orange, and blue, Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has once again opted for blue as the colour for the trains that will run in the upcoming phase II project.

CMRL, which has been building three corridors – Madhavaram to SIPCOT, Light House to Poonamallee and Madhavaram to Sholinganallur – to create a 116-km network at an estimated cost of ₹61,843 crore, will need a total of 138 three-coach driverless trains or 414 coaches during the initial few years. At a later stage, when all the lines become operational and the ridership increases, six-coach trains will be introduced meet demand.

According to CMRL officials, while they were open to using other colours initially, they eventually went with blue to maintain uniformity. “We also thought the trains could be painted in the colour of their respective corridors (like green, blue, orange, and red lines). But this will not work since all trains will be run in every corridor. Since blue trains were popular and had already become synonymous with the Chennai Metro Rail system, we decided to stick with it,” an official said.

CMRL officials have been working on the designs of the trains and will submit the final version in a few weeks. While the present phase I network has four-coach trains that has one coach earmarked exclusively for women, officials plan to demarcate one half of a coach for women in the three-coach trains of the phase II project.

The three-coach trains can accommodate about 900 commuters while the six-coach ones can carry about 1,600, officials said. The first train for the phase II project is likely to reach the city by August next year, and the trials will begin soon after that.