Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL) will start trial runs on phase I extension in the northern parts of the city from Saturday. It plans to throw it open to public by January end.
On Friday, the locomotive will run on the 9-km stretch from Washermanpet to Wimco Nagar, which has both underground and elevated stations. Subsequently, a train will be operated on Saturday, according to CMRL officials.
“On Thursday, equipment called ‘structure gauge’ will run through this stretch and then the locomotive and the train. The structure gauge is to ensure that the stations are built with the right measurement without any infringement. Even if there are any infringements, it can be found and corrected so that the locomotive engine or the train don’t suffer any damage during the trial runs,” an official said.
The trial runs with trains that begin on Saturday will continue until the stretch is operationalised by January end.
Sources said that a signalling test would be carried out on Sunday or Monday. “During these trial runs, the functioning of different systems will be checked on a daily basis and the glitches that emerge will be resolved at this stage itself,” another official said.
Though the CMRL has been planning to open this stretch to the public next month, sources said it would be challenging to finish the construction of all stations by then.
“Then, we have to get the certification from the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety. It may be quite difficult to finish the whole process by the end of January,” another source said.
