Mumbai Metro closer to ops, to get speed certificate this week

Railway's research arm RDSO is likely to issue 'speed certificate' to the much-awaited Mumbai Metro this week, sources said.

This will now pave the way for the operator Reliance Infra obtaining safety certificate from the Railways, they said.

"The process of issuing speed certificate for the Mumbai Metro is almost over. The trial report is nearly ready and we may give the clearance to the operator of Mumbai Metro One as early as this week," sources at the Research, Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) told PTI.

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and the operator Reliance Infra have been saying that the metro services will be thrown open to the public this month-end.

Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) is a joint venture between Reliance Infrastructure, French firm Veolia Transport and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

While Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Infra, which is the execution agency, owns a 69 per cent stake in the project, the state-run MMRDA and Veolia hold 26 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.

The RDSO is a statutory technical body, which certifies rail system for safety based on international standards.

After carrying out the oscillation and emergency braking distance trials under the monitoring of the RDSO, the MMRDA is now undertaking proper trial runs on the entire first phase of the 11.4-km long Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar section of the Mumbai Metro for the last couple of days.