A few hundred staff members of the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and metro’s land-acquisition staff from the Collectorate travelled in metro trains, engaged in service trials in the 13-km Aluva-Palarivattom corridor, on Saturday.
Each employee could take along five people — be it family members or friends. “This is a standard practice in all metro systems, prior to launching commercial operations. The aim is to ensure that a few hundred people can take tickets, board and alight trains comfortably, as per schedule,” said KMRL spokesperson.
“We thus re-tested the crush-load situation, in which over 900 people travel jam-packed in each three-coach train, after taking tickets, to simulate how well the systems handle the number of people. Everything was verified, from how well escalators, ticket gates and other systems function at stations in the metro corridor, to the time taken to enter and exit trains,” said Elias George, managing director of KMRL.
On representatives of a political party travelling in the trains and posting photos, KMRL sources said they had accompanied a Collectorate staffer.
KMRL’s Director Board meeting is slated for Tuesday in New Delhi.
