Metro shifting gear to 8-coach trains

Metro commuters on the Gurgaon-Jahangirpuri and Noida-Dwarka lines will soon get more space to travel as induction of eight-coach trains on these two busiest metro corridors — Line 2 and 3 — is just a few months away.

Metro commuters on the Gurgaon-Jahangirpuri and Noida-Dwarka lines will soon get more space to travel as induction of eight-coach trains on these two busiest metro corridors — Line 2 and 3 — is just a few months away. Delhi Metro has started preparing for the introduction of eight-coach trains into its operations.

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Eight-coach trains will start running on these corridors by end of the year, said a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesperson.

The corporation initially planned to introduce eight-coach trains in the new corridors to be built under the third phase four years later but had to increase carriage capacity on the existing lines because of the tremendous rush the network handles.

"The number of daily commuters has reached 20 lakh now, which is expected to go further up at a fast pace. We are left with no choice but introducing eight-coach trains at the earliest," a DMRC spokesperson said.

An eight-coach train has been assembled at the Khyberpass Metro depot, on which various technical tests and examinations are currently being carried out.

The DMRC also has started trial run of the train during the non-revenue hours in the night between the Khyberpass and the Najafgarh Metro depot and vice versa, said DMRC sources.

"Stringent tests are being done on the eight-coach train, as part of which various aspects of Metro operations such as signaling, safety, speed pick-up, jerking, breaking, etc, are being checked. These tests are expected to continue for another 15 to 20 days," said Anuj Dayal, DMRC spokesperson.

"The process of changing the number of coaches of a train involves lot of technical expertise for carrying out the necessary integration and commissioning activities," he added.

Delhi Metro has already placed orders for the procurement of 212 new coaches for conversion of six-coach and four-coach trains into eight-coach trains. By 2015, all the trains operational on Lines 2 and 3 will have either six or eight coaches.