Kochi has to wait till next March for metro

Trains might chug only in the Aluva-Palarivattom corridor by the project deadline of November 1

The 18-km-long Aluva-Maharaja’s College Ground metro-rail corridor may be commissioned only by March 2017, a delay of four months.

But the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is making arrangements to operate trains in the 12-km Aluva-Palarivattom corridor by November 1, which is the revised deadline to commission Phase-I of the project up to the college ground on MG Road, despite labour shortage and rain.

“Some contractors are facing labour shortage, as metro rail work is under way in a dozen cities across the country. The onset of monsoon in Kerala has further hindered works like station construction, track-laying, traction, signalling, and telecommunication. The commissioning of Phase-I will thus be extended up to March, provided the Commissioner for Railway Safety gives the green signal,” metro sources said.

With less than five months to go for the November 1 deadline to commission the Kochi metro, the DMRC is all set to complete the girder launch in the Aluva-Palarivattom corridor in a day or two. Around a dozen girders have to be launched in the Palarivattom-Maharaja’s Ground corridor. They will be launched within a month, except at the international stadium from where the metro’s Kakkanad extension begins. Girder launch here will take place only in September.

Another reason for extending the commissioning by four months is French firm Alstom, which had won the bid to install signals and telecommunication equipment, has sought four months to conduct test runs, it is learnt. Exhaustive test runs are crucial, since the Kochi metro is the second in India to operate trains using the Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) system.

Muttom facility

“Test runs cannot begin unless signalling and installation rooms at stations are ready. The operational control centre and depot control centre at the train-maintenance depot in Muttom too must be ready. While 95 per cent civil work on the metro viaduct is over, there is some delay in completing metro stations and the control centres,” metro sources said.

Public sector firm Ircon has so far completed laying 16 km of tracks – 8 km in each side of the metro corridor. It has completed laying tracks between Muttom and Edappally where a trial run was made, while the track is ready in 2.5 km of the 4-km Edapally-Palarivattom stretch. The firm has begun track-laying in the Aluva-Muttom portion too. The second metro train is expected to arrive here later this month from Alstom’s factory in Andhra Pradesh.

While 95 per cent civil work on the metro viaduct is over, there is some delay in completing metro stations and the control centres.