The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has begun the process of refurbishing 280 coaches which have completed 15 years of service on the Red Line.
“This refurbishment includes a lot of minor and major overhaul activities such as internal painting, floor replacement, gangway overhauling and secondary suspension replacement. A total of 1,120 secondary suspension in 70 trains. All of these suspensions have been planned for replacement,” officials said.
Floor repair
DMRC officials added that around 40 coaches required “major attention” to their floor and repair and replacement of the same is being planned with the assistance of the original car builder.
“Installation of CCTV will be done for saloon, rear view and catenary monitoring during train operations. All 280 coaches will also be provided with fresh layer of special water base paint,” official said.
The official added, “There are a total of 420 gangways [partition area between two coaches] in 70 trains. All of these will go for overhauling which includes 100% fabric or bellow replacement, cleaning and corrosion to provide smooth riding to passengers.”
Highlighting other refurbishments that will also take place in the coaches, officials said, “Other activities will include installation of mobile charging facility, refurbishment of electrical panels and installation of fire detection systems.”
The DMRC has begun the process of mid-life refurbishment of 70 trains with four coaches each, that were initially pressed into service in 2002 on the Red Line.
“These trains and coaches have completed 15 years of their 30-year life,” the DMRC said.
The first phase of the mid-life refurbishment of the coaches is likely to be completed by mid-next year, DMRC officials said, while adding that the the work for the second phase would be taken up accordingly.
“At present there are a total of 39 trains of six coaches each on the Red Line [Rithala to Shaheed Sthal New Bus Adda] and remaining 46 coaches are deployed on the Blue Line [Dwarka Sector 21 to Noida Electronic City and Vaishali] of the Delhi Metro, where this refurbishment has started,” the official said.
