Seven of the 39 loco pilots who will steer Kochi metro trains in the Aluva-Palarivattom corridor will be women.
They have begun operating service trials in the 13-km-long corridor after undergoing training in Bangalore metro.
All 39 of them have been recruited as loco pilots cum station controllers, anticipating a shift to unmanned (pilotless) train operations a few years down the lane.
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Aimed at this, the metro has been equipped with Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) system - a first in India, using which trains can be operated sans pilots.
Under the system, trains will automatically halt within a 40-metre distance of each other even if they are not manned by pilots.
Twenty three-year-old Gopika Santosh, one of the seven women Station Controller cum Train Operators (SCCTO), told media persons here on Friday that they were attached with Kochi Metro for the past one year.
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“We completed three month-long, simulator-backed training in Bangalore. The shift to actual train operation was thus smooth and we enjoy piloting the trains,” she said.
Training
They were further imparted on-the-job training by 32 trainers cum supervisors attached to Kochi metro. They have completed the minimum required 400-km train operations.
“Right now, a return trip in the Aluva-Palarivattom stretch takes approximately an hour. This will come down (to the scheduled 25 mins) in a step by step manner once all equipments and systems are relied on,” said the Kollam native. “We have driven trains at a maximum speed of 75 kmph,” said 25-year-old loco pilot Vandana V S, a native of Kottayam.