PM Modi to inaugurate India’s first driverless train in Delhi: All you need to know

The driverless train technology will first be inaugurated on the Magenta Line, connecting Janakpuri West and Botanical Garden, but will be extended to the Pink Line (Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar) by mid-2021

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday will inaugurate India’s first driverless train operations on the Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line, connecting Janakpuri West and Botanical Garden along with the fully operational National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) services on the Airport Express Line.

Prime minister Narendra Modi. (REUTERS)

Here is all you need to know about the new technology:

• The driverless train technology will first be inaugurated on the Magenta Line, connecting Janakpuri West and Botanical Garden, but will be extended to the Pink Line (Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar) by mid-2021.

• The extension of this technology to the Pink Line will increase the driverless network on the Delhi Metro to around 94km, which is nearly 9% of Delhi Metro’s total network.

• After Monday’s inauguration, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will enter the elite league of 7% of the world’s Metro networks, which can operate without drivers.

• Driverless train technology has set standards for automation called grades of automation (GoA). In GoA 1, trains are run by one driver and, in GoA 2 and GoA 3, the role of the driver is reduced to operating doors and for taking over in case of emergencies—the starting and halting of trains is automated. Finally, in the GoA 4, trains are on completely unattended operations mode.

• DMRC has had driverless technology since 2017, but the agency has been conducting rigorous trials befor launch. The initial launch was set for May 2020, but this had to be postponed because of the Covid-19 lockdown.