Metro Rail News | Provide regular updates on the progress of metro rail projects being developed in India

Delhi metro’s Yellow Line metro services hit

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29/08/2019

Delhi metro’s Yellow Line metro services hit

NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): In the morning today several commuters faced inconvenience after services were briefly affected on a section of Delhi Metro’s Yellow Line.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) tweeted about the slow movement of trains between Rajiv Chowk and Qutub Minar. However, after a few hours, normal services were resumed on the route.

DMRC tweeted “Normal services have resumed. We regret the inconvenience,”.

The Yellow Line is one of the busiest lines in the Delhi Metro network, ferrying thousands of passengers from Delhi to neighboring Gurgaon in Haryana.

The route measures almost 49 km and has a total of 37 stations. It connects Samaypur Badli in North Delhi to HUDA City Centre in Gurugram. The stretch connects prominent areas such as Delhi University, New Delhi and Old Delhi railway stations, Connaught Place, INA Market, AIIMS and Hauz Khas to name a few.

Maharashtra Govt. approve Nashik’s Metro Neo Project

Narendra Shah

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29/08/2019

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Maharashtra Govt. approve Nashik’s Metro Neo Project

Nashik (Metro Rail News): Maharashtra cabinet on August 28, 2019, has approved Nashik’s first-of-its-kind Mass Rapid Transit System “Metro Neo” Which will not run on metal tyres (technically known as rails), but instead have rubber tyres. It help in better connectivity across the city. Like all lines, the corridor will be elevated. The Metro’s swanky coaches will operate on electricity and battery and ply on elevated viaducts with state-of-the-art terminals.

The project will be executed at an estimated cost of ₹2,100 crore and will be jointly implemented by Maha Metro, City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) said Mr. Brijesh Dixit, managing director, Maha Metro. The cabinet approved two corridors Shramik Road to Nashik Road, which is 18.45km long, and a 9.45km-long Gangapur to Mumbai Naka corridor in Nashik.

Nashik MetroNEO Map — Nashik’s Metro Neo Project Corridor Route Map

According to Dixit, the “unique” Metro in Nashik is the first in the world where electricity-run coaches will be plying under the mass transport system. He said the concept was designed to make the project “financially viable” in the tier-II city. “This has not been done anywhere. The coaches of Metro Neo will have the comfort of the Metro coaches, but will run on tyres and not rails. We had to come up with a new model to make it financially viable,” Dixit told HT. The Metro will have a capacity of carrying 8,000 commuters during peak hours.

Ramanathan Subramanium, executive director of Maha Metro, said the coaches will run on overhead electrical cables (OHEs). “The elevated structures will have basic infrastructure like bus stops. The routes are planned in a way that it will connect important locations including railway stations, MIDC, etc. As the coaches will run on tyres, it will come down through a ramp, and operate around the city too as a feeder route,” he said.

Metro Neo Explained Video

The system could be upgraded to light rail transit (LRT) system subsequently, when the ridership goes up. “We can put rails on the viaduct and get new brakes to run on it,” Dixit said

Underground Metro ideal, but not viable

Kanika Verma

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28/08/2019

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MUMBAI (Metro Rail News): Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation’s (MMRC) managing director, Ashwini Bhide, said underground Metros were ideal but could not be executed in the city due to several, particularly financial, constraints.

She said, “The ideal situation could be that all Metro lines are underground. But for a country and a city like ours, where we have a huge resource crunch, we have tried to find a solution.”

She said she was not the most competent person to explain the decision to build elevated Metro corridors, but said the city’s geographical makeup put a lot of restrictions on planning public transport projects.

Ms. Bhide, who was addressing citizens at the V-Citizens Action Network event in Colaba, answered a series of questions regarding Metro 3, which is being built from Colaba to SEEPZ, including the contentious issue of a car shed proposed to be built in Aarey Colony.

The car shed has been opposed by citizens and environmental groups as it involves axing 2,702 trees.

Recently, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s Tree Authority too stalled the proposal for cutting trees after it received 82,000 objections from citizens.

Several citizens questioned the need to have it in Aarey Colony and asked why the yard was not possible in a site in Kanjurmarg, which is being proposed for the yard of Metro Line 6. “That land was not made available because there are private claims on it, litigation is on since 1996,” she said.

The land was still not available with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, which was looking for other options for Metro Line 6, she said. “Moreover, the land is 10 km away from our last stop. So it would have meant extending the corridor by 10 km and revising the whole design, financial closure, getting new approvals. We were still willing to do it provided the land at Kanjurmarg was available at the time,” she said.

She said the MMRC was “seriously concerned” regarding the Aarey issue as the first set of trains were expected to arrive by November 2020. If the depot is not ready by then, they would have no place to keep the trains.

Agency to be hired for a feasibility study on two new Metro links in Noida

Kanika Verma

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28/08/2019

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Agency to be hired for a feasibility study on two new Metro links in Noida

NOIDA (Metro Rail News): The Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) on Wednesday said it has started the process of hiring an agency that will carry out the feasibility study on two new Metro links — a 15km link from Sector 142 to Botanical Garden and another 3.8km link from Depot station to Bodaki.

“We have written to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and the Central government consultant agency, RITES, seeking their response about the feasibility study on the two proposed links. We will finalize the agency that charges the lowest fee for the study,” Alok Tandon, managing director, NMRC, and chairman of the Noida authority said.

The Greater Noida authority, on May 31, 2019, had approved these projects and decided to start work on their feasibility. The Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Anup Chandra Pandey, who is also the chairman of the Greater Noida authority, had directed the NMRC to expedite the work on the feasibility study and, later, on the detailed project report of the two projects, given the importance of these projects.

“An agency will be selected in a month or so. After that, it will take about three months to prepare a feasibility report on the two projects. Once the feasibility report is submitted, the UP government will take a final call on these projects,” an NMRC official, requesting anonymity, said.

The feasibility study will be conducted on the basis of expected traffic of passengers on the two routes, economic growth along the lines and the ridership during peak hours, among other parameters.

The Greater Noida authority had approved the 14km link with an aim to provide direct connectivity between Greater Noida and Delhi via Blue Line. The link will branch out from Botanical Garden and end at Noida’s Sector 142 Metro station on the existing Aqua Line. This line will run parallel to the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway after branching out from the existing Botanical Garden Metro station.

The Botanical Garden station also serve as NCR’s first interchange station, linking commuters to Blue Line (Noida City Centre to Dwarka Sector 21) and the Janakpuri West-Botanical Garden corridor.

The Greater Noida authority had approved the 3.8km link between the Depot Metro station and Bodaki village, where the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor is developing a dedicated industrial township.

At present, the 29.71km Aqua-Line connects Noida’s Sector 51 with Greater Noida’s Depot Metro station. And Bodaki village, through which the Delhi-Howrah railway line passes, is located only 3.8km away from existing Aqua Line’s Depot Metro station.

The Integrated Industrial Township Greater Noida (IITG) authority is developing a dedicated industrial township along the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor. The IITGL, in 2017, had started allotment of industrial plots in an integrated township spread on 335 hectares. The authority wants to extend this Metro link so that in future passengers, who want to reach the railway station and industrial areas in Bodaki can get better connectivity via the upcoming Metro link.

The DPR and the funding pattern for these two projects will be decided later.

“Funding is not an issue because the Noida, Greater Noida authorities will have a major share and we will also get support from the center and state government. But first let the feasibility study come then only we will finalize other things,” said Tandon.

MahaMetro completes digging 18m shaft at agriculture college

Kanika Verma

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28/08/2019

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MahaMetro completes digging 18m shaft at agriculture college

PUNE (Metro Rail News): The Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (MahaMetro) has finished digging an 18m-deep shaft at the College of Agriculture in Shivajinagar, marking the completion of a crucial step for the underground Metro rail section.

The shaft will be used to lower the tunnel-boring machines, which will excavate the tunnel for the underground route. A similar tunnel, 22m-deep, is being dug at Swargate.

MahaMetro had initiated civil work on this shaft about 12 months ago. “Controlled blast technology was used to break the hard rock beneath the surface after the soil layer was removed in the first stage of digging. The shaft is square in shape, measuring 25 meters wide on each side, and 18 meters deep,” a MahaMetro official said.

MahaMetro, which is executing two Metro routes in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad — one from Vanaz to Ramwadi and the other from PCMC to Swargate — now plans to level the ground and construct a slab at the bottom to assist the landing of the tunnel-boring machines. “All the necessary provisions will be made in time to install the tunnel-boring machines and maintain the required depth.

Two parallel tunnels will be dug once the machines are lowered through the shaft,” an official said. MahaMetro expects to take delivery of the first tunnel-boring machine in October. The excavation of the tunnel is expected to begin in November.

“A team of MahaMetro officials will be visiting the Hong Kong-based company (which is providing the machines) to conduct various tests on the tunnel-boring machines,” an official said. Officials said that the tunnel-boring work will begin from two ends — agriculture college and Swargate.

The digging at the Swargate site is underway and has been expedited once MahaMetro cleared various hurdles related to the side. The Swargate shaft will be four meters deeper than the one at agriculture college. An official said the difference in depth was because of the condition of the soil, rock, and the requirements of the project.

“The difference will not affect the construction of the tunnel,” an official said. Both the tunnels will meet in Kasba Peth area, at the underground metro station.A MahaMetro official said that the work of digging the tunnel will first start from the agriculture college end and will be taken up later from the Swargate end. Meanwhile, MahaMetro said that it has taken elaborate measures to dump the soil extracted from the shaft at designated spots

No underground Metro for Amaravati

Kanika Verma

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28/08/2019

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VIJAYAWADA (Metro Rail News): Municipal minister Botcha Satyanarayana on Tuesday ruled out speculations on underground Metro rail line in Amaravati region.

Satyanarayana, who reviewed the Amaravati Metro rail project at the secretariat on Tuesday, said the underground railway line was not necessary for thinly populated areas like Amaravati capital region.

Addressing the media he said: “Amaravati Metro Rail Corporation (AMRC) presented the detailed project report designed by SYSTRA. They have prepared estimates for the 67-km-long corridor at Rs 24,467 crore and proposed to construct an underground line in the Amaravati region by spending Rs 490 crore. But the earth grid Metro line is sufficient there.

Earth grid line costs around Rs 160 crore. We have decided to go for a cost-effective project.” The minister went on to say that the government has released Rs 187.40 crore lease amount due to farmers in the capital city region. He asked the farmers not to worry about the capital city project. Satyanarayana claimed that the opposition was trying to create panic by provoking farmers.

Chennai Metro plans to run trains every 2½ minutes

Kanika Verma

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28/08/2019

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Chennai Metro plans to run trains every 2½ minutes

CHENNAI (Metro Rail News): Imagine a train pulling up every two-and-a-half minutes during peak hours on the city’s metro network. Sounds ambitious? That’s the frequency of service Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) hopes to achieve once the number of commuters touches 4 lakh a day.

The number is just over a lakh on weekdays now and averages 95,000 on weekends.
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“The system is designed for 2½ minutes. Since we haven’t used it to an optimal level, we must validate it before we eventually increase the frequency.

We will start the trials now to prepare ourselves when it needs to be implemented,” an official said. At present, trains are run at five-minute intervals only during peak hours on one corridor between Washermenpet and Airport via Anna Salai, that too after commuters took to social media to complain about overcrowding.

CMRL doesn’t have enough trains to run them every two-and-a-half minutes across both the corridors throughout the day.

At present, 35 trains are operated during peak hours and 25 during non-peak hours. Officials said they would need 33 trains to run services every two-and-a-half minutes on a single corridor.

However, CMRL has a fleet of only 42 trains to operate across the two corridors of phase-1. An additional 10 trains are being manufactured for the 10km phase-1 extension.

Officials said increasing frequency is a big challenge and requires syncing of all critical systems with minimal failure. Systems including passenger information display on the platforms have to sync with daily train time table and platform screen doors have to efficiently function when trains arrive every two-and-a-half minutes. Point machines, a device used for trains switching tracks should also be failproof. All these critical systems will be checked during trial runs planned around midnight on Saturday.

“Reliability of the overall system is critical and has to be tested. If there is a failure in one train or in the signal system, the entire operation will go haywire,” an official said.“We need at least two hours to prepare a train and bring it out from the depot to the mainline. Induction and withdrawal of trains to the depot itself is a big challenge,” an official said. While each corridor is supposed to have a depot, CMRL operates two corridors with only one depot. A second depot planned at Washermenpet is still under construction

CMRS inspection of metro extension from Friday

Kanika Verma

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28/08/2019

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CMRS inspection of metro extension from Friday

KOCHI (Metro Rail News): A team led by the Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS) will inspect the Kochi metro’s 5.60-km Maharaja’s College-Thykoodam stretch and the five stations en route on Friday and Saturday (August 30 and 31).
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As regards civil work, the team will focus on structures like pile foundation, piers, girders, special bridges, and steel bridges. Bearings and various design aspects too will be inspected. As for the track, it will check aspects like gradients, horizontal curve, cross-level, derailment guard, weld joints, and turn-outs, said a release from Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL).

In the electrical section, the team will inspect lifts and escalators, fire hydrants and fire-fighting system, third rail, auxiliary and traction substations, emergency tripping switch (ETS), and emergency telephone. In signaling, passenger help point (PHP), signaling system, public address system (PAS), and perimeter intrusion detection systems (PIDS) on platforms, apart from signaling and telecom equipment room, UPS room, and the automated fare collection (AFC) system will be inspected. The team will also examine station access and signages, the metro agency said.

Once the CMRS is satisfied with the quality and efficiency of the metro system, he will issue an authorization certificate, which is a pre-requisite to enable the commissioning of the extension.

Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will commission the eagerly awaited extension in the first week of September if everything goes according to plan. The tentative date of commissioning is September 3, while commercial operations will begin from September 4, metro sources said.

Sources in Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said passenger amenities in all the five stations on the stretch were ready. “Entry/exit is ready on both sides of the road for all stations except Ernakulam South where it is ready only on one side,” they added.

Dedicated parking space has been readied at the Thykoodam station. Designated parking areas already exist on the premises of the Ernakulam Junction railway station and beside the Vyttila Mobility Hub. A huge parking space for various types of vehicles is expected to come up as part of the second phase development work of the hub. A ground-level / elevated walkway linking the metro station and bus terminals proposed at the hub too will be built, it is learned.

Meanwhile, the construction of medians beneath the metro corridor is almost over. They will be landscaped too.

Greater Cochin Development Watch (GCDW), a city-based NGO, had submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan a week ago, demanding a special fare of ₹10 between Ernakulam South metro station and Vyttila Hub, to attract more commuters to the mass rapid transport system.

India’s Bullet Train innovation center gets academics from Tokyo University

Kanika Verma

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28/08/2019

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India’s Bullet Train innovation center gets academics from Tokyo University

GUJARAT (Metro Rail News): On Tuesday, the High-Speed Rail Innovation Centre formed by National High-Speed Rail Corporation organized a seminar at IIT, Gandhi Nagar in Gujarat.

Achal Khare, Managing Director, NHSRCL and Dr.
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Norimachi Kumagai, President, Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI) Japan addressed researchers, students, and faculty of the Institute and discussed the maiden HSR project in India and technological aspects associated with it.

This was followed by a panel discussion where the advisory council members interacted with the young minds and also responded to the questions of students and faculty of IIT, Gandhi Nagar.

During his address, MD/NHSRCL Shri Achal Khare said, “India has long been a technological powerhouse and young Indian minds are bubbling with innovative technological ideas. NHSRCL would like to collaborate with them and provide them a platform to develop sustainable and indigenous technological solutions for High-speed railways in India.”

The High-Speed Rail Innovation Centre Trust has a mandate to undertake targeted, applied collaborative research to solve issues raised by the railway industry to enhance railway safety, reliability, productivity, efficiency, and sustainability in order to ensure customer satisfaction.

The trust will also leverage Indian technical capabilities and develop indigenous capabilities in relevant fields of High-Speed Railways to develop professional expertise in all aspects of High-Speed Railways so as to provide innovative, indigenous, cost-effective solutions, technological guidance, strategic analysis, and advice to the Indian Rail Transportation Industry on significant challenges and opportunities.

The trust will also provide eco-friendly and environmentally sustainable solutions. It will also contribute to the development of HSR specific standards in India.

HSR Innovation Centre which was registered on January 22, 2019, is managed by a Board of Trustees Chaired by Managing Director, NHSRCL and supported by Executive Council, which is assisted by the Advisory Council to review nature of the projects to be undertaken by the Innovation Centre.

Titagarh Wagons to exit French rolling stock manufacturing subsidiary

Kanika Verma

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28/08/2019

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Titagarh Wagons to exit French rolling stock manufacturing subsidiary

WEST BENGAL (Metro Rail News): India-based railway wagon builder Titagarh Wagons has decided to exit its French rolling stock manufacturing subsidiary Arbel Fauvet Rail (AFR).

The Indian firm decided to leave AFR just weeks after a commercial court in Paris ordered the liquidation of the French subsidiary.

Titagarh Wagons vice-chairman and MD Umesh Chowdhary said: “We have resolved to move out from AFR, as it was making losses of 4-5 million Euros annually for the last three years, due to a general slowdown, and it required more capital. Also, we decided to pump in funds where growth lies.”

Titagarh Wagons acquired AFR in 2010, following which it was renamed AFR Titagarh. Since its acquisition, Titagarh Wagons has invested more than Rs1bn ($13.93m) in the company.

Chowdhary told PTI that the Indian rail wagon builder will now put more focus on manufacturing metro coaches.

Titagarh Firema recently emerged as the lowest bidder to supply 102 metro coaches for Pune Metro Rail in India. The tender was issued by Maharashtra Metro Rail.

The scope of works under the contract includes design, manufacturing, supplying, testing and commissioning of the metro rail units. Titagarh will also provide necessary training to Pune Metro personnel.

Overall, the value of the contract is approximately Rs11.25bn ($156.73m).

The majority of the metro coaches will be built in its Indian manufacturing plant in Nagpur while some of the units will be delivered by the Italian facility.