New Delhi: State-run engineering firm BHEL on Wednesday announced its tie up with SwissRapide AG to bring Maglev trains (magnetic levitation) to India.
Aimed at expanding its footprint in the urban transportation sector as part of its diversification initiatives, BHEL has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SwissRapide AG for Maglev Train projects in India, a company statement said.
The Maglev Rail system hovers in the air instead of rolling, due to magnetic levitation, thus the vehicles have no physical contact with the guideway. This enables the system to be highly energy efficient, allows operating speeds of easily up to 500 km/h and significantly reduces the total cost of system ownership.
The MoU was signed by S V Srinivasan, GM & Head (Transportation Business Group), BHEL and Niklaus H Koenig, President and CEO, SwissRapide AG.
The agreement has been signed in the backdrop of the Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives, and will enable BHEL to bring the latest, world-class technology to India and manufacture state-of-the-art Maglev trains indigenously.
The MoU sets out the foundation to cooperate and explore mutually beneficial business opportunities, and to utilise both the companies’ inherent capabilities, skills, knowledge and assets, with respect to the scope of Maglev Train projects in India.
The SwissRapide AG is a Swiss company specialised in the promotion, project management, planning, specification, design, implementation and commissioning of international Maglev Rail projects and related technologies.
It holds the unique position of offering Transrapid Maglev technology, the only established and commercially proven ultra-high-speed Maglev Rail system in the world.
BHEL has been pioneering new technologies and has been a reliable partner in the growth of Indian Railways for over five decades by supplying electric as well as diesel locomotives, EMUs (electrical multiple unit), and propulsion system sets and drives for the same.
Kolkata Metro, the first Metro in India, is equipped with BHEL made propulsion systems. The first ever air-conditioned AC-EMUs, presently operational in Mumbai suburban, are also equipped with BHEL-made propulsion and related electrics.
