Struggling with the over-crowding in its trains the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has decided to start inducting six-coach trains on Line 3 (Dwarka Sec-21 to Noida City Centre) by end of this month. The Delhi Metro busy lines to Gurgaon and Noida,which connect the satellite cities to the Capital,took a another hit with the womens coaches coming into play. At present,Metro trains have four coaches and the first one is reserved for women. With the crowds swelling,last month the overall ridership crossed the 16-lakh mark,the DMRC has been facing problems managing the crowds inside their interchange station at Rajiv Chowk and Central Secretariat. While a four-coach train has a carrying capacity ranging from 1,200 to 1,500 passengers,the six-coach train will be able to carry between 1,800 and 2,100 passengers per train trip. Extensive tests and trial runs are being done daily during night on Line-3 so that they are put into passenger service before the end of December, DMRC spokesman Anuj Dayal said. The process of converting a four-coach train into a six-coach train involves lot of technical expertise for carrying out the necessary integration and commissioning activities,Dayal said. The tests involved are for ensuring proper functioning of all safety and performance related function including passenger interface items, he said. Some of the tests conducted are rolling stock tests,dynamic tests and service trial. DMRC is ensuring that everyday a team of around eight engineers work on these six-coach trains. During the night,tests are carried out on the mainline.
