Delhi Metro goes driverless, unveils trains packed with tech for passengers
Earlier in January this year The Times Of India reported that, the Delhi Metro had been testing driverless metro trains at its Mukundpur depot in the northern part of the city. According to Hindustan Times, the Delhi Metro unveiled these driverless metro trains on Wednesday.
These trains will ply on sections of phase-III of the network, which will be operation by the end of 2016. In a report by News World India, initially these trains too will be operated by drivers for a year before the Delhi Metro Rail Corp (DMRC) declares the driverless trains safe, DMRC Managing Director Mangu Singh said.
The upcoming lines connect Majlis Park and Shiv Vihar in north Delhi (58.5 km) as well as Botanical Garden in Noida and Janakpuri West in west Delhi (38 km). The Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar line would be the longest on the Delhi Metro network. Mangu Singh said the trial run for the Pink Line (Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar) and the Magenta Line (Botanical Garden-Janakpuri West) would be completed by the end of this year.
“Most of the work on both lines is complete. I’m hopeful that some of the stretches would be operational for public this year itself,” stated the MD. The new trains would have six fixed coaches and can carry more passengers.
A senior DMRC official, H.S. Anand, said the new trains would be 10 percent faster and 20 percent more energy efficient than the present ones. “In the existing trains, only 50 percent of the coaches are motorised. In the new trains, four of the six coaches are powered. So acceleration would be fast and less power would be consumed.”
These metro trains will generate electricity even with the brakes on, enabling the air-conditioning system to keep working. The new trains also have passenger-friendly features such as WiFi, USB charging ports, redesigned grab handles, digital route map and backrest near the wheelchair area. Each train will have six LED screens with videos, graphics, animation and real time video streaming capacity.
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