Brief overview of key events and news in the rail rolling stock markets.
Mumbai and Chennai plan to buy 93 unmanned trains with 462 cars. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has issued two tenders for the supply of a total of 61 six-car trains for two metro lines, while Chennai Metro Rail (CMRL) has announced a tender for 32 three-car trains.
The city administration of Naples has awarded Hitachi Rail a €200m contract for the supply of 22 metro trains. Each 39 m long train will carry up to 290 people. The vehicles will be assembled at the company’s Italian plants in Pistoia and Naples and are expected to enter service in 2026.
Rendering of the Hitachi Rail train for the Naples metro. Source: Hitachi Rail
The Government of Georgia has decided to announce a tender for the supply of 97 cars, worth €205 mln, for the Tbilisi metro. The vehicles will be procured in accordance with World Bank procedures. The previous contract for 11 four-car trains between the city Mayor’s Office and the TMH Mytishchi plant was cancelled after the manufacturer was added to the US Treasury and State Department sanctions lists.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has placed a tender for the delivery of 17 five-car metro trains with inter-car gangways for Kharkiv. In May last year, the city announced a joint tender with the European Investment Bank for eight five-car trains, but there is no information on further stages of the purchase.
By the end of 2026, Baku plans to buy 65 metro cars from Russian manufacturers, according to the deputy head of the Baku metro Hidayat Mamedov. He stressed that 35 cars will be purchased this year and another 30 cars in the next two years. The TMH Mytishchi plant completed supplies under the previous contract for 60 81-765.B/766.B cars in early 2023.
The 81-765.B/766.B train for the Baku metro. Source: Evolution series/transphoto
The Kazan metro announced a need for nine trains. The issue was discussed at a meeting at the Ministry of Transport of Tatarstan, Russia, at the end of February. The Kazan metro fleet consists of 15 Kazan trains built by Vagonmash/Skoda Group as well as Rusich and Moscow-2019 trains built by TMH.
