Prime Minister Narendra Modi will stop India’s first “driverless” subway train services on December 28. The first ‘driverless’ train will be deployed on the 37 km long Magenta Line of the Delhi Metro. The railway network runs through the national capital region: Janakpuri West to the Botanical Garden in Noida. “The driverless trains will be fully automated, eliminating the possibility of human error,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
The commercial operation of these new generation trains, which will become a great technological feat, will begin after the event, said a senior official from the Delhi Metro.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had been conducting various tests for its new “driverless trains” for the past three years. In September 2017, the Delhi Metro had started full sign testing of its new driverless trains along a 20km stretch of the Pink Line. The tests were to test the automation of the new subway trains, equipped with signaling systems for Unattended Train Operations (UTO) and CBTC (Communications Based Train Control), which will significantly increase their frequency.
The ‘driverless’ trains will have six carriages. They will be equipped with various advanced features such as better energy regeneration during braking, energy efficient subsystems such as LED lighting and air conditioning systems. They are designed for a maximum speed of 95 km / h and an operating speed of 85 km / h, the Delhi Metro previously said.
Each coach has capacity for a maximum of 380 passengers, which translates into 2,280 passengers on each train. Cabless trains could accommodate an additional 40 passengers on a six-bus train, as the driver’s cabin will not be needed on such trains.
They would run through the Majlish Park-Shiv Vihar (Line 7) corridors over 58 km long and the Janakpuri West-Botanical Garden (Line 8) corridors over 38 km long.
“These trains would be more energy efficient than previous Delhi Metro trains due to improved design features,” an official told the news agency. PTI.
“After the start of driverless services on the Magenta Line, the Delhi Metro Pink Line is expected to have driverless operations by mid-2021,” the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement.
The National Common Mobility Card will be launched next week
Along with the ‘driverless’ metro, Modi will also inaugurate the National Common Mobility Card for travel on the Airport Express Line on December 28, according to the official statement. The card is an interoperable transportation card that allows cardholders to pay various types of transportation charges, including the use of metro and bus services across the country, toll, parking, and even for retail purchases and withdrawing money. Anyone with a RuPay debit card will be able to travel on the Airport Express Line using that card.
Both events – the driverless train stop and the launch of NCMC on the Airport Express Line – will be held via video conference, a senior DMRC official said.
The National Common Mobility Card will be available throughout the Delhi Metro network by 2022. “These innovations will herald a new era of travel comfort and enhanced mobility.” added the official statement.
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