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When a train arrived by plane


New Delhi, March 01, 2009: Delhi Metro’s decongestion plan kicked off with the arrival of the first of eight airlifted train coaches from Germany on Thursday. Incidentally, this is the first time a train has been airlifted into India.

The coach was flown to IGI’s cargo terminal in an Antonov aircraft. The transportation is costing a whopping 1.4 million euros per train set, but ensures the trains arrive a good one-anda-half-months before schedule.

‘‘We wanted the coaches urgently as the increase in ridership was not pre-empted. The trains will take about three months for commissioning and by June end, we are expecting all nine new trains to be operational. This will immediately provide relief from the congestion,’’ said E Sreedharan, managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

The airlifted coaches will be taken to the Delhi Metro depot at Khyber Pass by road on specially designed trailers. With the first coach having arrived on Thursday, the corporation is expecting to receive one coach every alternate day till both trains arrive. The train sets will first be refitted at the depot and then put through oscillation and braking tests on the Noida stretch. After getting all the passenger safety certifications, the trains will be added to the system. ‘‘We expect the first train to be ready for use in three months after which one train will be added every week,’’ Sreedharan added.

The plan is to add the first three trains to Line 2. The fourth train will be added to Line 3, the fifth to Line 2 again and the sixth to Line 3. Once the needed relief is provided, DMRC will wait for eight more trains to be ready for commissioning to start the Noida section.

The manufacturers, who have borne the cost of airlifting also made the first coaches in record time. ‘‘Normally, a Metro coach takes about 20-22 months to be built but we managed to do so in a record 18 months,’’ said Stephane Rambaud-Measson, president, Passengers of Bombardier, which has set up a factory to manufacture the remaining coaches in Salvi, Gujarat.

The coaches are being loaded on special trailers and placed inside the planes with adequate insulation to ensure that there is no damage in transit.

METRO SPECIAL AIRLIFTING

• No. of coaches to be airlifted - 8
• Weight of each coach - 45 tonnes
• No. of aircraft being used for the operation - 2
• Type of aircraft - AN-124
• Total no. of train sets with DMRC - 70 (all broad gauge)
• Fresh orders for 424 broad gauge and 196 standard gauge coaches have been placed for Phase II
• Two train sets will be airlifted and another seven train sets of four coaches each will also be manufactured in Goerlitz, Germany. These will be brought to India by sea and commissioned by June
• The rest will be built at Bombardiers factory near Vadodara (Gujarat)

FEATURES OF NEW TRAINS

• CCTVs inside coaches
• Power connections in coaches for use of laptops, cellphone chargers
• Reduced noise levels inside by use of special sound absorbing cushions in walls
• Destination signboards in LED on one window of the side wall of each coach
• Better braking system with wheel mounted disc brakesa

Source: Times of India