Driverless Metro Trains to Start Operations from October on the Magenta Line

driverless-metro-train

driverless-metro-train

There is a big surprise for metro travelers in Delhi. Very soon, Delhi Metro will have its first driverless trains. In another 3 months’ time, Delhi Metro passengers will witness metro trains in operation, run not by drivers but  on an automatic mode.

 In October 2017, metro train covering the line from Janakpuri West to Botanical Garden, also referred as the Magenta Line, will set its motion without drivers. The line will be made partially open to the public in October this year, as reported by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). The Magenta Line once completed will connect West Delhi to Noida in less than an hour through a direct corridor.

 Trials runs are already in progress on two sections of the corridor of phase III. These cover the line between Kalkaji and Botanical Garden and the line between and Janakpuri West to Terminal 1 – IGI Airport Metro station, the distance of which are 13 km and 10 km, respectively. This phase III expansion will be completed once the line between Majlis Park – Shiv Vihar (Pink line) is completed and the tentative date of completion is by March 2018. The first trial line on Pink Line was done a few days back. Trial runs on the Kalindi Kunj and Kalkaji Mandir section of the Magenta Line are in progress since August 2016.

The driverless metro trains are the highly automated trains that will run on unattended train operation or UTO mode. Both the Pink Line and the Magenta Line will set motion officially with driverless metro trains. Initially, the trains will be run by drivers but will slowly move to the UTO mode according to DMRC.

With Magenta line, many south Delhi areas will be included on the metro map. The Magenta Line will reduce the travel time between Gurgaon, Faridabad and Noida. At present, metro travelers have to change trains at Rajiv Chowk to travel between Gurgaon and Noida and at Central Secretariat to travel between Gurgaon and Faridabad.

After successful signaling trial runs, the driverless metro trains on the Magenta and the Pink lines will be officially inspected for safety by Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS). The trial runs include rigorous testing on the Communication Based Train Control (CBTC), behavior of the track system and the Over Head Electrification (OHE). Once CMRS gives the green signal, Delhi will witness driverless metro trains in October 2017.

Related Information

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