The much-delayed ITO to Kashmere Gate section of Delhi Metro’s ‘Heritage Corridor’ is going to be inspected for fire clearance next week, paving the way for its likely commissioning in February.
Trial runs on the 5.17-kilometre-long ITO – Kashmere Gate section of the Delhi Metro’s violet line began on August 10, 2016. This stretch will be an extension of the presently operational Escorts Mujesar (Faridabad) – ITO corridor. However, work on the stretch slowed down for several reasons and the deadline for its opening to the public kept getting moved up.
Open pending approval
According to senior officials of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), the fire inspection of the corridor has been scheduled for next week.
Once the inspection for fire clearance is over and the corridor is approved from a fire safety point of view, DMRC would call the Commissioner for Metro Railway Safety (CMRS) for an inspection.
It would not take much time for the section to be opened to public, connecting Kashmere Gate to Escorts Mujesar, once it gets the go ahead from the CMRS.
This entirely underground section comprises four stations – Delhi Gate, Jama Masjid, Lal Quila and Kashmere Gate. The Kashmere Gate station will become the first ever interchange facility of the Delhi Metro system to provide interconnectivity between three corridors of the network.
Apart from the Violet Line connecting it to Escorts Mujesar, the other two lines that interchange at Kashmere Gate are the Red Line (Dilshad Garden – Rithala) and Yellow Line (Jahangirpuri – HUDA City Centre).
Alternate corridor
Once the ITO – Kashmere Gate stretch becomes operational, commuters would get an alternate corridor between Kashmere Gate and Central Secretariat. Also, those coming from Kashmere Gate and destined towards Noida or Vaishali, would be able to interchange at Mandi House, instead of going to Rajiv Chowk.
During the trial runs, the interaction of the Metro train with physical infringements (civil structure) will be checked to ensure that there is no physical blockage during the movement of the train on the track, a DMRC spokesperson said. He said that the entire signalling system is also being rigorously tested.
Thorough trials
“In addition, the response of the train at different speeds, braking of the train and the interconnection with the Operations Control Centre (OCC) is being monitored during the trials,” the spokesperson said.
“The behaviour of the track system and the Over Head Electrification is being checked repeatedly during all the trials,” he said.
