KOCHI: The integrated trial runs of the Kochi metro began on Monday, with a pair of trains attaining speed of up to 70 km per hour in the 13-km Aluva-Palarivattom corridor.
The second train followed the first on the same track, braking, decelerating, and accelerating, depending on the speed of the one in front, while maintaining a constant distance. A team of signalling experts and those from Alstom, the train manufacturers, travelled on board.
It put to use the Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) system, which manages and controls train movement with little dependence on conventional signals. The CBTC system (also called automatic train control) — a first for any metro in India — will enable unmanned train operation in the long run.
Intensive integrated trial runs in the coming days will be followed by an inspection of the corridor by the Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) in early April. Individual trains had attained the design speed of 80 km per hour in the corridor a month ago, after they completed slow and medium speed tests.
The Rail Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) had in 2016 completed inspection of trains, following which the standardised software and other components were installed on them. Six sets of trains (each having three coaches) are available in Kochi, while Alstom has promised to deliver one train every fortnight, to take the number to a total of 25.
