Maha Metro Nagpur has come up with New Year gift for Nagpurians, as the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) has given its consent for operating Metro Train @ 80 kmph between Lokmanya Nagar Metro Station and Sitabuldi Interchange. This would enable Metro train to operate at the designated speed from the day services are launched on Aqua Line.
This New Year gift would ensure that the journey between these two stations would take just 20 minutes!!! The fact that Metro Train can travel @ 80 kmph from day one of its launch, is a significant achievement for the Reach and the entire project. The road journey between these two stations normally takes upto an hour, which can now be covered in just 20 minutes.
Though CMRS had earlier given sanction for starting of commercial operations in Reach-I earlier, the entire process was executed in multiple steps. The same process was however executed in Reach-III in reduced steps and now Metro Train can operate on Aqua Line at the speed of 80 kmph from the first day itself.
The experience of CMRS trials in Reach-I came in handy for Maha Metro while conducting similar tests in reach-III. While the necessary clearances for R-III came in one go, the various stages of clearances for Orange Line are listed below:
- 1 train, 1 line, 1 hr, 25 kmph, 12 trip
- 2 trains, both lines, 1 hr, 25 kmph, 25 trips
- 4 trains, both lines, 30 min, 25 kmph, 48 trips
- 4 trains, both lines, 15min, 80 kmph max, 100 trips
Sometime back, the CMRS had conducted tests based on Communication Based Train Control (CBTC), Automatic Train Protection, Operation Control System, Automatic Train Supervision and other mechanism. A team of CMRS officials was in Nagpur for these tests. The CMRS nod came after successfully conducting trials in these areas.
Work on four Metro stations, other than Sitabuldi Interchange, has been completed. Those are – Lokmanya Nagar, Subhash Nagar, Institute of Engineers and Jhansi Rani Square Metro Station. With all the necessary permissions already under the belt, Maha Metro is all geared up for starting passenger services in Aqua Line.