KOCHI: A team of officials led by Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS-Bengaluru) K.A. Manoharan began a two-day inspection of Kochi metro trains here on Monday.
The exercise is aimed at assessing various safety features of the three-coach trains and their comfort level/ride quality. The safety features of the trains will be demonstrated. Three of the total 25 trains have arrived in Kochi from Alstom-India’s manufacturing unit in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh. The coach-maintenance facility being set up at the metro depot at Muttom too will be reviewed by the visiting team members. They will verify whether the trains and amenities at the depot adhere to specifications, KMRL sources said.
Metro officials gave detailed presentations on the features of metro trains, viaduct, stations, track, traction (the third track laid between tracks from which trains will source power), power supply system, communication-based train control (CBTC) system, and operation and maintenance. Static and dynamic trials of trains too are under way at the depot and in the viaduct up to Edappally. This will continue on Tuesday as well.
Final inspection
The CMRS will conduct the final inspection, possibly in February or March, of the metro’s reach one — the 13-km Aluva-Palarivattom corridor — which is most likely to be commissioned in April. This will be done after signage and stations are ready. The DMRC is keen on commissioning the corridor first, followed by the 5-km Palarivattom-Maharaja’s College Ground corridor by June, for which safety officials are expected to make yet another inspection. DMRC Principal Advisor E. Sreedharan contends that this will help rectify errors, if any, in the corridor that extends to the city hub.
Metro services can be opened to commuters only after getting safety/fitness approvals of its systems. They must adhere to the provisions of Opening of Metro Railways for Public Carriage of Passenger Rules, 2013. Metro trains must also be approved afresh by the Union government since they are built in accordance with a new design. This approval is given based on the inspection report given by the CMRS.
Speed trial
Earlier, Rail Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) had issued speed certificate to the trains after they attained the design speed of 80 km per hour in the Muttom-Edappally corridor. On receipt of the speed certificate from RDSO, Lucknow, the CMRS, Bangalore, was approached to carry out inspection of trains. All necessary documents were submitted to him and answers given to clarifications, KMRL sources said.
