New Delhi: An Italian firm–Italferr–has been appointed to design and supervise the development of the metro lines in Kanpur (32 km) and Agra (30 km).
According to a company official, Italferr, which is the engineering arm of FS Italiane, in partnership with the Spanish firm Typsa, has been appointed to design and supervise the metro lines, which will have over 62 km of track, 57 stations and four depots.
The contract, signed with the Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC), has a five-year duration and a total value of over 43 million euro, with the Italferr share being over 19 million euro, and includes the planning of four corridors (for a total length of over 62 km). The contract, signed with the Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC), has a five-years’ duration and a total value of over 43 million euro, with the Italferr share being over 19 million euro, and includes the planning of four corridors (for a total length of over 62 km). Aldo Isi, CEO of Italferr, told The Sunday Guardian that the starting date (of the project) was under negotiation considering the lockdown, “but let us say it should be as early as September 2020, for a period of 60 months”.
Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane Group (FS Group) is a fully owned company of the Italian government working in the railway sector and is under the Ministry of Treasure, Italy.
The official said this is FS Italiane’s most important contract in India confirming its place in the high-speed sector, but also in the international metropolitan public transport panorama. The whole operation, worth 2.4 billion euro, is financed with funds from the Indian government and the European Investment Bank.
Specifically, the new Kanpur metro line will be developed along two main corridors. The first is from Kanpur to Naubasta and the second from the Agricultural University, having an overall length over 32 kilometres, 30 stations and two depots. The Agra metro line will also include two corridors connecting Sikandra to Taj East Gate and Agra Cantt to Kalindi Vihar respectively, for a total distance of over 30 kilometres with 27 stations and two depots. FS Italiane has been operating in India for a few years, even having a branch with Italferr in New Delhi which will be transformed into a legal entity in the coming months. FS Italiane, he said, is committed to realising strategic works in India since 2016, including the design and supervision of the construction of the Anji Khad Bridge–the first cable-stayed bridge with the utmost technical prestige–as well as project management consulting for the development of two new metro lines in Mumbai. As of 2017, Italferr also took on the quality and safety inspection activities for the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor-Khurja-Dadri Section project, one of the peak freight corridors for the Indian Railways.
Stable growth in the Indian subcontinent market continued throughout 2019, with the award of the design of and support in the construction of the two lots for the railway line between Rishikesh and Karanprayag (at a length of 125 km) in Uttarakhand.