CHENNAI (Metro Rail News): Chennai Metro Rail Limited is planning to establish an operations control centre (OCC) in Madhavaram to monitor and control the metro trains of phase-1 and driverless trains of phase-2. The OCC will have additional space and facilities for future expansion, and another OCC will be set up at CMRL’s headquarters in Nandanam as a backup.
According to an official, the existing OCC in Koyambedu will be dismantled and used for property development once the new OCC in Madhavaram is established. The tender for the project has been floated, and it will take about a year to set up once the tender is awarded.
The OCC will be responsible for monitoring the movement of trains on the mainline and taking control of train operations during emergencies. The entire operation of the driverless trains, including the opening and closing of doors at stations, will be controlled from the OCC, with cameras installed inside and outside the trains to monitor the trains remotely. In phase-1, CMRL currently has a fleet of 52 trains, and they intend to operate almost 110 trains in phase-2. To ensure backup in case of an emergency, a backup OCC (BOCC) will be built far away from the main OCC. This backup will be used if there is an emergency, like a fire accident in the main OCC, according to R Ramanathan, former CMRL director.
