Here’s how youngsters will drive city forward

Strap: Inside the Operations Control Centre of Mumbai Metro, HT gets a close look into how young train operators are trained to run Mumbai MetroMumbai: With Metro Line 2A and 7 to be flagged off by prime minister Narendra Modi on January 19 and open to public on January 20th, the Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation Limited (MMOCL) is preparing to make two of the most important metro lines operational

Strap: Inside the Operations Control Centre of Mumbai Metro, HT gets a close look into how young train operators are trained to run Mumbai Metro

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Mumbai: With Metro Line 2A and 7 to be flagged off by prime minister Narendra Modi on January 19 and open to public on January 20th, the Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation Limited (MMOCL) is preparing to make two of the most important metro lines operational.

The MMOCL is an organisation formed to look after the maintenance and operations of all the Metro lines in the Mumbai Metropolitain Region (MMR).

The Line 7 that runs from Ovaripada station in Dahisar east to Gundavli in Andheri east will be a huge relief for commuters travelling from western suburbs via the Western Express Highway, which is one of the busiest routes of Mumbai during peak hours.

While Line 2A, which will go from Dahisar East to Andheri West via link road, will be a relief to the citizens on the western line and it will work as an important alternate route to Mumbai locals saving huge commute time.

HT visited the Operations Control Centre (OCC) at Charkop, which manages both these lines, to meet the team and train operators that run the metro. The staff at Metro has been preparing for the full operation of these lines for the last three years.

A young group of people drive the metro trains and they are called Train operators (TO). Before being able to run the train, these TOs have to go through an intense training for nearly six months.

The TOs are mostly in the age group of 24-30 years, who are eligible to join right after their engineering degree, usually at around the age of 22 years. After an initial examination and verification, the TOs have to go for a three month-long training at the Delhi Metro Rail Academy (DMRA), in Delhi. The TOs then are trained for another three months in Mumbai.

Supervisor at OCC for TOs, Hardik Desai said, “The average age of the TOs is around 25 years. After their six months of training, they are provided provisional competency, they then need to have an experience of manually driving the train for 400 kms.

“Of these 400 kms, initial 100 kms they have to drive an empty train. After this, they will drive the train under supervision in non-peak hours. Once 400 kms are completed, they have to give a test and interview again for competency,” he added.

“We will have a full training centre ready here in Mandale in the next few months, after which trainees will not have to visit Delhi. A full simulator experience for training the pilots will also be set-up here. We have so many new lines coming up in next few years, this centre will be able to train all these pilots in the future.” added Desai.

One of the TOs running the Metro, Vishal Pawar said, “I have been with the Metro for last three years and it is a proud moment for us to see both the lines being made fully operational. When I operated the train for the first time, I was nervous. Now, after being a trained TO, I ensure the new candidates do well.”

Desai, who has been with the Metro for almost 10 years, initially with line one and now, with line 2A and 7, shared that running the Metro is a technical job and it does not end with just one training.

Operators, even after being declared competent, go through regular training and refresher courses. The OCC also now has a newly-launched simulator machine where TOs are trained to run a train, and trainers are able to introduce new scenarios to prepare them for any adverse situations.

The Operations Control Theatre (OCT), is a room with huge screen to monitor every train running on both Line 2A and 7 which can operate independently in case of power failure or any other emergency. The control theatre also monitors every minute details of trains that are on the tracks and the staff from OCT are also in touch with the TOs through their internal communication systems.

Commissioner of MMRDA, SVR Srinivas said, “This will be the first time that a Metro Network will be operational. So far, the metros were running in an isolated manner, this is the first time that we have a connected network.

“The line 2A and 7 will connect with Line 1, which means the East-West-North-South will be connected via one line. All the trains are ‘Make in India’. The National Common Mobility card will also be launched during the event. This card can be used across Metro lines and also for the BEST buses in Mumbai. The services will be open to public from January 20th around 4pm,” said Srinivas.

MMRDA will also be launching a mobile app called ‘Mumbai 1’ where citizens will be able to buy metro tickets directly using a mobile app.