CMRL phase 2 infra to operate trains every 90 seconds soon

CHENNAI: The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), which is on an expansion spree on Tuesday, announced the awarding of a high tech tender to speed up operations and also explore the option of automatic driverless trains.

For the Metro phase II construction, the CMRL has awarded the tender for design, manufacture, supply, installation, testing, train control, video management system and commissioning of signalling to Hitachi Rail STS SPA and Hitachi Rail STS India at the cost of Rs 1,620 crore, a CMRL statement said.

Interestingly, the phase II Metro trains are set to operate with a minimum headway of 90 seconds, a notable improvement from the existing one. This means it’s building infrastructure that can operate trains for every 90 seconds in future.

Besides the driverless/automatic operation, the system will unify with the functions of automatic train movement in the depot, operation of platform screen doors, functioning of passenger information and display system, sources said.

To incorporate the latest rail technology used around the world and enhance safety measures, the CMRL had floated the tender. The bid awarded to two Hitachi Rail companies is the largest signalling tender executed till date.

And, the ultra-modern communication-based train control system will enable automatic train operation, which means the trains in phase II will operate driverless, the release said.

The safety measures of the robust system will be certified by an independent safety assessment team as per international standards.

Additionally, due to the driverless operation, the system is also set to undergo intensive testing for safety parameters at the test centres. After that, the Train Control System will undergo field trials for authentication and integration with other systems. The final approval and implementation of the system for public use will be done by the Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS), the statement added.

Lastly, this system will ensure the real time streaming of video for monitoring, control and management from a centralised Operation Control Centre.