Metro tests its high-speed line,reduces speed of trains

The line was targeting an increase in speed,and was tested by the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) on December 18 and 19,but is pending approval. Officials of Reliance Infrastructure,the operator of the corridor,said the move to reduce the speed has been taken to carry out “routine technical tests” of the systems,considering that the line has been operational for a year.

Anil P Gupta,President,Reliance Infrastructure,said,“Now that we have completed one year of operations,we are conducting some routine tests on the corridor,for which,we have decreased the running speed of trains from 105 kmph to 80-90 kmph. It is only to check if all the systems are in place.”

Trains on the corridor have been running at a slower speed since last week,and the tests are likely to continue at least for another couple of weeks,a Reliance Infrastructure spokesperson added.

The decrease in speed has affected the frequency of trains,and the peak hour frequency which was 12 minutes earlier,is now up to 15 minutes. While the operator claimed that the frequency has been disturbed only by a minute,regular commuters on the corridor have complained of longer delays both during peak and non-peak hours.

Niranjan Guha,a Dwarka-based lawyer and a regular commuter on the corridor said,“I take the Airport Metro to Shivaji Stadium,from there I go to my office in Barakhamba. Over the past one week,it has been rather sluggish and takes longer than usual. Also,the wait at the station for a train is longer,and there are no announcements either.”

Meanwhile,DMRC officials have said the operator is defaulting on issues such as operational hours and frequency,and that it is not adhering to the concession agreement. According to the agreement,the operator had to run revenue service for at least 20 hours a day,but,so far,the line has an operational duration of 18 hours from 5 am to 11 pm.

Reliance Infrastructure officials said that the Airport Metro launched its passenger service with a train frequency of 20 minutes,and as the ridership gradually increased the frequency was also increased based on the commuter’s feedback. The train frequency was increased to 15 minutes.

“Few months back we again increased the frequency during the peak hours. Train frequency will be further increased according to rise in footfall,” the spokesperson added.