Driverless Metro train to arrive in Mumbai on January 27

State Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday visited the Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) project in Bangalore and inspected the Metro train and its construction work

The construction of the first indigenously built metro train (Rolling Stank) on Metro Two (A) and seven has been completed. State Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday visited the Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) project in Bangalore and inspected the Metro train and its construction work. The first Metro train will leave for Mumbai on January 22. After seven years, Mumbai is ready to welcome the new metro and Mumbaikars are curious about its 'first look'.

This metro train will be tested on different fronts once it arrives in Mumbai. After that, the Metro passenger service will be introduced to Mumbaikars from May, 2021, Eknath Shinde informed.

In 2014, the first metro in Mumbai was launched on the Ghatkopar to Andheri route. After seven years, Dahisar to D. N. Nagar (Two A) & Andheri East to Dahisar (Seven) routes passenger services are being operated.

The construction of metro lines and stations which are being carried out through MMRDA is in the final stages. The project has been entrusted to BEML and this is the first indigenously built Metro train to arrive in Mumbai.

During the visit of Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, MMRDA's Director of Systems Rajiv Agarwal, BEML's CMD Dr. Hota, Rail and Metro Department Director Deepak Kumar Banerjee, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's CGM Sumit Bhatnagar gave a detailed presentation on Metro construction. Meanwhile, Shinde took a detailed review of the latest world class technology and measures taken for passenger safety. After the review, Shinde praised BEML's efficiency.

Under the guidance of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, work on metro projects is accelerated. The first phase of coaches running on Metro Two A and Seven will leave Bangalore on January 22 for Mumbai. It is expected to arrive at Charkop Metro Car Shed by January 27. After that, the trial runs of the train will start in the next two months with the necessary technical and other tests.

"We are planning to start these metro passenger services from May 2021," Shinde clarified.

Adequate security arrangements

All the coaches of this metro are air conditioned. It has automatic doors. Work on passenger announcement and passenger information system is underway. The inner surface of these coaches has been anti-skidded to prevent passengers from slipping. Each coach has the necessary equipment to deal with fire fighting and other emergencies.

This metro will have CCTV surveillance on every coach and platform. Passengers are also given a switch in each coach to help send a distress signal. There are two bicycles in each coach of this metro to keep up with the growing trend of physical fitness. There is a separate arrangement in each coach for every disabled person to travel in his wheelchair.

Driverless metro

The maximum speed limit of each train on this metro line will be 80 km per hour. Most importantly, this metro will not have a motorman. This driverless (unattended train operation) Metro will run automatically. But, in order not to make the passengers feel unsafe, the motorman will operate the train in the beginning. After some time, the metro will run automatically. The system has a wide range of state-of-the-art technology including Variable Voltage Variable Frequency (VVVF), Train Control and Management System for speed control and safety. For internet optical fiber network has been installed in every coach. The design of these coaches gives priority to energy conservation and alternative non-conventional energy which will be used in case of a power outage.

Economical than foreign metro

An average of Rs 8 crore has been spent for each coach being manufactured at BEML. It costs an average of Rs 10 crore to manufacture these coaches internationally. Therefore, swadeshi has proved to be economically viable. For both these routes, 378 coaches will arrive in Mumbai in phases. Each train has 6 coaches and a total of 63 racks will serve Mumbaikars on this route. Each coach has a seating capacity of 52 passengers. About 380 people can travel in one coach and the capacity of one train is 2280. A total of Rs 3,015 crore has been spent for the manufacturing of these coaches. It is planned to operate 96 trains on this route and the total number of coaches will increase to 576. The first six trains were scheduled to arrive in the next six months. The remaining three trains will arrive in the next three years.

The plan is to build a 340 km long metro network in the Mumbai metropolitan area through MMRDA and the work has already begun. This will strengthen passenger services in Mumbai and surrounding cities, said Eknath Shinde.