Title - Vadodara bogies to run electric trains in Australia

VADODARA: Bogies manufactured in Gujarat's small town - Savli - will now ensure that commuters in South Australian capital city, Adelaide, enjoy a comfortable ride in what will be Australia's most modern trains. From Savli, 1250 metro bogies have already become part of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for commuters of country's national capital. Bombardier Transportation India will start exports of Bombardier Flexx Metro 3001 bogies from its Savli site, where the multinational had started a wholly owned railway vehicle manufacturing facility three years back. Bombardier Transportation had won an order from the Government of South Australia in March 2011 for supply and maintenance of 25kV electric trains to be delivered as three-car sets.While the rail cars will be built at Bombardier's Dandenong ( Victoria) and Maryborough (Queensland) manufacturing facilities in Australia, the Savli site will manufacture and supply semi-finished Metro 3001 bogies for this vehicles. The new rail cars designed for Adelaide will form 240-seat trains with state-of-the-art technology including Mitrac propulsion and control system and Flexx bogies developed by Bombardier.These vehicles to be used for Adelaide's suburban railway network, locally as "A-City" will be the first rail vehicles in Australia that will meet new international crash standard specifications.

"This first export order to be manufactured at Savli comes only three years after the start of commercial production in June 2009. In addition to catering to the Indian market, the Savli site is set to develop export activities around the region. With 33 million euro investment, we employ nearly 700 highly skilled team members and indirectly generate around 3,000 jobs in Vadodara region," chief country representative of Bombardier Transportation India Harsh Dhingra told TOI.

"This has made Vadodara the only city in the world with the capacity to deliver all key electrical and mechanical components for the manufacturing of railway vehicles," said Dhingra.

Exports are expected to start in the last quarter of 2012 with completion of deliveries in the second quarter of 2014.

The Savli site of Bombardier is capable of producing 1,500 assembled bogies a year.