The first of the ten metro trains proposed for Chennai’s phase I extension reached the city on Saturday. This train will now be sent to the Chennai Metro Rail Limited’s depot in Koyambedu, where it be put through various tests in slow and high speed before it is used. These tests may take two weeks to a month.
According to a report in the Times of India, the rest of the nine trains are expected to arrive by the end of February 2020.
The Rs 3,770-crore, 9-km phase I extension project from Washermanpet to Wimco Nagar will be inaugurated next June. Ten trains are proposed to be used on this line. At present, the Chennai Metro has 42 trains from Alstom’s Sri City facility.
The manufacturing of these 10 began in February 2019. According to The Hindu, a team of officials from Chennai carried out various tests over the last few months, including car body dimensional checks, watertightness check, static routine traction and brake tests before delivery.
According to reports, the Chennai Metro has seen a spike in the number of users taking the metro over the last eight months. In August 2018, the daily patronage of Chennai metro crossed over 1 lakh for 19 days. In August of this year, over 26 lakh passengers used the metro, which is over 10 lakh more than the number of patrons in January 2019.
Phase I of the Chennai Metro covers 45 km and consists of two corridors -- one from Washermanpet to Chennai Airport and another from Central to St Thomas Mount. CMRL is ready to set the ball rolling for its Phase 2 which will connect Madhavaram in north Chennai to Sholinganallur in south Chennai.