Delhi Metro conducts trial run on Pink Line, to open corridor in June 2018

The trial runs began on the over 10-km-long elevated stretch of the Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar corridor of the Delhi Metro on Wednesday, on which the new signalling technology, Communication Based Train Control (CBTC), will be "rigorously tested".

The 59-km-long corridor (Line 7) of the DMRC network, also known as the Pink Line, is part of the Phase-III project, and trial runs on its other stretches have also been conducted, starting last year, officials said.

The Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar corridor, including this stretch, will open in parts, by June 2018, they said.

"The test runs on the elevated 10.47-km-long section between the IP Extension and Maujpur metro stations of the upcoming Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar corridor began today," a senior Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) official said.

The IP Extension-Maujpur stretch consists of nine elevated stations, viz., IP Extension, Anand Vihar, Karkardooma, Karkardooma Court, Krishna Nagar, East Azad Nagar, Welcome, Jaffrabad and Maujpur.

"The new signalling technology, known as the Communication Based Train Control (CBTC), will be implemented on this corridor, and will undergo rigorous testing in stages.

"The response of the train at different speeds, braking, and the interconnection with the Operations Control Centre (OCC) will also be monitored during the trials. The behaviour of the track system and the Over Head Electrification (OHE) will be checked repeatedly," the DMRC said.

This section has three interchange stations, at Anand Vihar, Karkardooma and Welcome, the official said.

"During these runs, the interface of the metro train will be checked to ensure that there is no physical infringement with civil infrastructure during the movement of the train on the track, and also testing of various sub-systems of coaches shall be done," according to the DMRC.

The officials said that construction of this section faced many challenges, including management of heavy traffic at various points at Patparganj, Anand Vihar, Welcome, Jaffrabad and Maujpur.

"The construction in running drain, land acquisition at Patparganj, Anand Vihar, Welcome, Jaffrabad and Maujpur also posed a bottleneck during construction," the DMRC said.

The trains for this section have already arrived and are stabled at Vinod Nagar Depot, officials said.

This section (IP Extension and Maujpur) consists of five special spans, including two steel spans, over the existing DMRC Red line (Line 1) and Northern Railway tracks between Welcome and Shahdara.

Cantilever construction (CLC) spans, measuring 255 m in length over Anand Vihar Railway Yard and main line tracks, were constructed over running track with 25 KVA overhead electrification system, they said.

"The Maujpur station is a four-track station, having provision for connection from Maujpur to Mukundpur, a corridor proposed in the Phase-IV project of the DMRC network," the official said.

The trial runs between the Majlis Park and Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus metro stations of the Pink Line had begun in September last year, he said.