Confirming this P C Sehgal, managing director, MRVC, said, “The bid worth Rs 60 crore were opened on Friday evening. This high speed bolster-less bogies will help the millions of suburban commuter to travel without vertical shock, which they experience in the existing trains.”

There was only a single bidder for the tender, and therefore, Siemens Germany has won the contract, a source at MRVC informed on condition of anonymity.

According to Sehgal, the design of the bogie is completely different from the newly-introduced rakes. “The new rakes that are running is our design but this one is completely different and imported,” he said. “There vibration levels in these trains will be reduced completely and will give a comfortable ride to the commuters,” he added. Sehgal also informed the MRVC will be getting 108 such bogies, i.e., six new rakes. They plan to test them within a year and may incorporate them into the 96 rakes that are to be procured under the showcase Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP).

Sehgal further stated that these new bogies would require very less maintenance. “This means the rakes will not spend more time in the carsheds for maintenance work, which in turn will result in more services for the commuters,” he said.