New Delhi: Delhi Metro will run over 25
trains at a frequency of around 2.30 minutes during peak hours
on the Central Secretariat-Badarpur line as it provides
connectivity to Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the venue of the
opening and closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games.
The 21-km corridor, set to open September 30, connects
Central Secretariat with Badarpur, which is close to Haryana,
and passes through some of the densely populated areas of
south Delhi like Jangpura, Lajpat Nagar and Greater Kailash.
With less than two weeks left for the inauguration of the
line, the Delhi Metro has started commissioning of standard
gauge trains required for this corridor at the Mundka depot.
A total of 29 trains have been commissioned at the Mundka
depot and 14 of them have been shifted to Sarita Vihar depot,
which is the final stage of commissioning.
The remaining 15 trains will be transported by road from
Mundka depot to Sarita Vihar depot by Saturday so that all
these trains are available for service before the opening of
the line, Delhi Metro spokesman Anuj Dayal said.
DMRC plans to run trains on this line with the highest
ever frequency of 2 minutes 25 seconds to cater to the rush
expected at JLN Stadium and other Games venues.
Delhi Metro had on Thursday extended the trial runs from
Nehru Place Metro station to Okhla station and will complete
trial runs on the line before the Commissioner of Metro Rail
Safety is invited for inspection.
The Badarpur and Airport Express Lines are the only two
lines that are yet to be completed under the Metro`s Phase-II
projects.
A team of 30 technicians, engineers and staff are
involved in shifting these trains from one depot to the other
and it takes almost 16 hours to complete the entire process of
loading, transportation and unloading of these trains since
each standard gauge Coach weighs 41 tonnes and requires a 170
tonne capacity crane to lift the coach onto the trailers used
for road transportation, Dayal said.
Each of the 29 trains needed 30 days for commissioning in
the Mundka depot where all the sub-systems such as brake
system, electrical, signalling of the trains were carefully
checked and tested.
The Sarita Vihar depot will be ready before the opening
of the Central Secretariat- Badarpur line and includes a
workshop-cum-maintenance facility situated on over 29 hectares
of land with 22 stabling lines and 7 double rake lines so that
all the 29 trains can be accommodated together.
In addition, a test track, four inspection bay lines, one
shunting line and four workshop lines are also available in
the Sarita Vihar depot.
PTI
