Metro train to get on test track

The first train, which arrived in the city on June 6, will go through many test runs to assess its efficiency in the coming months — Photo: R. Ravindran

Two months after it hit the Chennai Port Trust, the first Metro train will get on the test track at Koyambedu in just about ten days.

The Metro train that was manufactured in Lapa, Sao Paulo, by Alstom Transport reached Chennai on June 6 and was subsequently stationed at Koyambedu depot.

“We have conducted all the routine tests on the train for the last two months now and the 800-metre test track in the depot is also ready. So, we will run the train on the test track inside the depot in 10 days,” said an official of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL).

The train which was put through static and dynamic tests will go through many such test runs to assess its efficiency in the coming months. It may also be taken to the elevated viaduct and tested there soon after being tested on this test track. By December 2013, CMRL plans to conduct the trial run on the 11-km stretch between Koyambedu and St. Thomas Mount and get it operational in the first quarter of 2014.

The depot-cum-yard in Koyambedu, sprawling over 26 hectares, in which the test track is located was structurally completed in December 2012.

The depot that was constructed at a cost of Rs. 198.10 crore will house the operational control centre for the Metro from where the officials can observe the movements of trains.

The second and the third train will leave Brazil only by the end of the month and reach Chennai by mid-October, said sources. Of the 42 trains for the Chennai Metro Rail, nine are manufactured in Sao Paulo in Brazil and the remaining 33 in Sri City plant in Andhra Pradesh.