No Independence Day trial run for Metro, wait may go beyond Xmas………Swapnil Rawal
Mumbai Mumbaikars hoping to see a trial run on the Metros first route on August 15 will have to wait till at least the year-end, with construction of the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor behind schedule. The nodal agency MMRDA had planned the symbolic test run on Independence Day, having already conducted one for the monorail on Republic Day.
Construction of the viaduct is behind schedule and no stretch is long enough yet for a test run. Also, there are issues with the car depot land at DN Nagar, which means a test run may not be possible at least till December. The trial run for the VAG corridor wont happen in August as we had planned. Now we expect it between December and February, said Ratnakar Gaikwad, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA.
The MMRDA and Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) had been targeting a December completion of the 11.4 km corridor, but several impediments is likely to see the deadline being overshot by three months.
As of now we dont have a long enough stretch of viaduct. Test runs will start by December for a couple of months. The tests are done to rule out any glitches in the system before it is launched. It is run like the normal service, without passengers, said K P Maheshwari, MMOPL director
The first four Metro rakes have been stationed at DN Nagar car depot. The next train is ready in China. Since the viaduct is not ready, the train has been sent to a testing facility at Beijing. There they have a 10-km stretch with sharp turns, elevations, necessary for tests, following which it will be shipped to Mumbai, Maheshwari said.