With all eyes now set on metro rail project in Ahmedabad and Gandhi Nagar, Metro Rail News spoke to the managing director, I. P. Gautam to get a detailed insight on the progress of the project.
In an exclusive interview with Darshana Shukla. Dr. I. P. Gautam, MD, Ahmedabad Metro shared an overview of the work going, last mile connectivity and interesting initiatives planned by the officials for commuters. Here is an excerpt from the interview:
- Work on the first phase of Ahmedabad Metro is gaining momentum with authorities eyeing to start trail runs before 2019 election? What is the progress like with regards to construction work and laying down lines for the metro rail?
The civil work of 6.3 km metro viaduct for the Priority Reach (Eastern Reach) i.e from Vastral Gam station to Apparel Park station has already been completed and Track laying work is under progress.The work on the six stations of this Priority Reach is under progress at various stages and Architectural finishing work is ongoing at 02 stations. We are hopeful that trial runs for this priority reach would commence by end of this year.
- In phase 1 there is a part of line that will cross the old city area. What precautions are taken to safeguard the heritage value of that location?
Keeping in view the ASI protected monument act, we have planned our alignment which is more than 100 meters away from the protected monuments. Further, the impact assessment study has been done due to metro construction on these monuments which is in acceptable limits.
- How prepared is Metro Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA) Company Ltd. (MEGA) in terms of dealing with monsoon? Will work be on hold or have you taken some steps to ensure work goes on according to the plan?
We are conscious about public safety during monsoon period. Therefore, the Metro rail contractors are advised to take extra precaution relating to traffic movement during rainy season. Also major road repair /surfacing work in coordination with AMC has been completed prior to the monsoon.
- Have MEGA received its first set of coaches from South Korean rolling stock manufacturer Hyundai Rotem? Can you share some features of the coaches and how different will they be from other metro coaches?
The first set of the Ahmedabad Metro coaches will be received later this year. The coaches will feature facility for driverless operation using GOA-3 mode and broadly similar to HRC coaches used at Bengaluru. The 2.9 metre wide train will have a maximum speed of 90 kmph and a carrying capacity of around 1000 passengers. Each coach will have convenient space for wheelchair users, four internal CCTV cameras for monitoring and passenger safety, fire detectors, LED route guide indicators and a LED passenger information display system. It will also have safety features like automatic train protection, Saloon door opening and closing alarm, Fail safe pneumatic emergency air brake, Smoke and fire detectors, Automatic and semi-permanent couplers etc.
