Antonov An-124 Delivers Metro Cars

Delhi Metro cars arriving by Antonov An-124-100

The first of 424 Bombardier metro cars arrived in Delhi, India from Germany onboard an Antonov Airlines AN-124-100M on February 26.

The metro cars each weighted 45 tonne and were 22·5 m long and 3·2 m wide.  They departed from Parchim airport in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern after being moved there by road from Bombardier's Görlitz plant in eastern Germany the previous day.

The car delivered today was the first of 340 Movia cars ordered by Delhi Metro Rail Corp in July 2007. The trains are required for Phase 2 of the Delhi metro network.

While the first 36 cars will be manufactured at Görlitz and may be candidates for further air charters, the rest will be produced at a newly-built factory at Savli in Gujarat, which Bombardier inaugurated last November to serve projects in the Indian and southeast Asian markets.

The first car being delivered was developed and delivered within 18 months of the order. Delivery by An-124 of an item that would otherwise have required lengthy sea and surface transportation having contributed to the short time scale.