Railways Board approves Kolkata East-West Metro line-2

Kolkata (Urban Transport News): It is good news for the metro commuters that Railway Board has given its approval on Friday to commence a commercial run of 5.5 km stretch of Kolkata East-West Metro between Sector V and Salt Lake stadium, by sanctioning the rolling stock to run at a maximum speed of 80 km/h. This information was shared by a senior official of Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC).

He said that the Railway Board has accorded its approval with the condition to comply with the Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO) in its interim speed certification, and suggestions by the commissioner of railway safety (CRS) that will issue the final safety clearance. The KMRC has procured nine train sets from the BEML Limited for commissioning of its first phase.

He further said that we hope to work on this vital infrastructure project will now progress rapidly. This project has the potential to change the way we commute and thousands of citizens would be looking forward to its speedy completion. The Kolkata East-West Metro project has missed several deadlines due to failure in signalling software. The communication-based train control (CBTC) supplier is still carrying the safety trial tests of the rolling stock.

Before commencing the commercial run, the KMRC will have to complete some mandatory testing and commissioning process to ensure that the metro is fully functional and safe for the passengers. After conducting oscillation trials, the KMRC received the safety certificate from the RDSO in January this year.

According to the international standard, the corridor must get an Independent Safety Assessment (ISA) report card from the French “certifier”, a third party appraisal body authorized to double check the necessary safety level of the train system before commencing the safety inspection of CRS.