First Metro rake wheels into city from Shanghai

 

Mumbai: The city’s first Metro train with four coaches for the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) corridor arrived at a private port—GTI adjacent to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT)—late on Thursday.
    The train has been taken to Metro’s Versova depot, said the spokesperson for Mumbai Metro One Private Ltd (MMOPL). Equipped with air-conditioned coaches, sophisticated video and audio communication systems and a black box, the train has a unique lubrication system that spreads liquid on the track while taking turns, thus keeping noise levels to only 62 decibels.
    The spanking new silverpink rake, covered in a plastic, was sailed in from Shanghai in China where it was designed and manufactured by CSR Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Co Ltd. The Reliance Infrastructure (R-Infra)-led MMOPL has given contract to CSR Nanjing to manufacture 16 rakes for this corridor, being built at Rs 2,356 crore. Violia Transport, France, is the consortium partner with RInfra. The corridor, 60% civic construction work of which is over, will have 12 stations.
    The coaches, being unloaded at the port and likely to be dispatched to the car shed on Monday, will undergo range of tests on parts of the 11.4-km Metro corridor. It will be stationed at the DN Nagar depot in Versova where motormen, being recruited by the MMOPL, will be trained on simulation device shortly. Though the project has a December 2010 deadline, the bridge close to the Andheri station may delay the actual commissioning by four months. The route between DN Nagar depot and Azad Nagar near Navrang Cinema is expected to be completed first.
    “Before the train is put on track, the MMOPL will carry out several tests under local conditions,’’ said an MMOPL source. The rake was first tried and tested on a 1.3-km test track in Nanjing and was dispatched a month ago. The rakes were also tested on an 11-km track in Beijing.
    On Republic Day this year, Mumbaikars got a first glimpse of the city’s Monorail. Now, on Independence Day, the city may witness the first trial run of the Metro rail. However, a source said the train might be unveiled on May 1, the day that marks the 50th anniversary of Maharashtra’s formation.
NAVI MUMBAI PLANS ON TRACK TOO
Mumbai: With the city getting its first Metro rake, Navi Mumbai is likely to get the green signal for a similar project. Construction work on the satellite town’s first 11-km Metro rail line between Belapur and Taloja may start in September.
    The Rs 3,000-crore project that will have 10 stations is likely to get the state government’s approval next month. The City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) will carry out the work on this line planned along the industrial belt of Navi Mumbai. “If we get the nod as planned, the tendering process will start soon and then the actual work can begin in September this year,’’ said a senior Cidco official. The Metro will start from Belapur’s Sector 7 and will reach Taloja via Utsav Chowk in Kharghar, Gharkul Circle, Central Park, Ova Peth, Ranjanpada, and the Rapid Action Force camp. Cidco has finalised plans for another two lines, which will be constructed later.