CRS completes safety inspection of Kolkata East-West Metro

Kolkata (Urban Transport News): The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) started preliminary safety inspection of Kolkata East-West Metro on Thursday, February 6. The inspection was carried out on behalf of Railway Board. Before starting the system check, the customary safety certificate required from the Railway Board.

The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC), implementing the underwater Metro corridor between Howrah Maidan and Salt Lake’s Sector V, applied for the Railway Board’s inspection after the crucial clearance of the Research Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO). RDSO is a ministry of railways organization that tests technical aspects of a new railway or Metro projects. “On behalf of the Railway Board, CRS started preliminary inspections on Thursday,” said a Metro official.

The CRS’s inspection would come useful when the commission, under the ministry of civil aviation, starts its tests of the 5.5km stretch between Sector-V and Salt Lake stadium that is due for commissioning this year. However, Thursday’s inspection is related to the rolling stock or the BEML-make trains that will run in the stretch. “It’s good that CRS representatives have come to conduct the inspection on behalf of the Railway Board. They will already be familiar with the system.

It will be easier when the CRS starts its own trial runs after the customary Railway Board nod,” explained a metro official. The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) is the nodal body that deals with matter pertaining to the safety of rail travel and train operations in the country. The 5.5 km section of the East-West line of Kolkata Metro is shortly targeted for completion.

The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) has started trial runs on East-West Metro line after the first BEML-make Metro train set arrived on April 24, 2018. The metro authority has been conducting rigorous trial runs ever since and subsequently the RDSO trials of four of its six-coach rakes for a month in October, last year. During the preliminary safety inspection, the CRS representatives inspected various issues, such as the emergency brake system and the signaling system of the train.

They also traveled on the train through the 5.5km between Sector-V and Salt Lake stadium. The CRS representatives will give their observations to their bosses, which would then be forwarded to the Railway Board for the issuance of the customary safety certificate.