The four-month trial run on the Gurgaon-Qutub Minar Metro corridor was the longest of all the Metro corridors in Delhi. The trial runs on the rest of the corridors were only one-month long. On this corridor, the trial runs started on January 29 and ended on May 31.
The DMRC officials attributed the length of the trial run to the delay in acquiring land for the Chhatarpur Metro station. The land for this station was handed over in October last only, they said.
The DMRC officials, however, said the trial run on the Gurgaon corridor was not long enough if compared with those in Europe and Middle East where, they said, the trials go on for more than a year.
Interestingly enough, the trial runs began in two phases.
The trials on the first phase, between HUDA City Centre station and Chhatarpur station (13 km), were launched on January 29 in the presence of Union Minister Jaipal Reddy and Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
The trials for the remaining 1.5 km stretch between Chhatarpur and Qutub Minar began on May 15.
The safety inspection by the commissioner for Metro rail safety was conducted on June 9 and 10 and the final safety clearance for the entire stretch was done on June 11 by the commissioner and a no-objection certificate issued.
{{/usCountry}}The safety inspection by the commissioner for Metro rail safety was conducted on June 9 and 10 and the final safety clearance for the entire stretch was done on June 11 by the commissioner and a no-objection certificate issued.
{{/usCountry}}The DMRC officials said the trial runs on other corridors opened so far in Delhi and Noida were limited for one month because of the pressure to open the corridors at the earliest.
They said the trial metro runs, however, were conducted for about a year or more in European and Middle East cities.