For DMRC, it's a four

Inclusion of six-coach trains postponed till next year; focus now on four-coach trains for an efficient Metro network

Inclusion of six-coach trains postponed till next year; focus now on four-coach trains for an efficient Metro network

Six-coach Metro trains may become a reality, but not in the near future. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will commission these trains only next year and at the moment the focus is more on the four-coach trains.u00a0u00a0

For the record, Delhi Metro managing director, E Sreedharan in January 2010 had announced that the DMRC would introduce six-coach trains by May or June in 2010.
Director, Rolling Stock, HS Anand refused to comment on the delay. However, a Delhi Metro spokesperson, maintained: "As such there is no delay. The trains are coming as per schedule."

The DMRC recorded its highest ridership on May 24, carrying over 11.34 lakh passengers. With the heat wave breaking all previous records, the six-coach trains would have been a great relief for Metro commuters.
The biggest problem though is being faced on Dwarka Sec-9 to Noida/Anand Vihar line as everyday 5.50 lakh passengers travel on this route. The second highest ridership is 3 lakh on Line 2 (Central Secretariat - Jehangirpuri) and 2.50 lakh on Line 1 (Dilsahd Garden - Rithala).

"If a four-coach train has to be added with two more coaches, it would need 15-20 more days for assembling. Seeing the passenger rush, it will be prudent to use fourcoach trains and increase their frequency. Secondly, six-coach trains have not been tested on the network so far. So at this point we do not want to conduct tests and it could result into a collapse of the entire system," said a senior official.

Though there was no official confirmation from DMRC, there was also a buzz that the supplier is failing to provide adequate number of coaches as per the finalised schedule.

A total of 114 trains have been commissioned so far in Delhi Metro, out of which 98 trains are used every day. The 16 trains that are left are kept on standby on all lines and for maintenance in depots.u00a0
"There are 70 old trains of Phase-I. An order for as many as 131 trains have been placed out of which 44 have already been added to the network. Four or five trains are ready for commissioning," said the spokesperson.

98 Number of trains that are used by DMRC every day

Token-ism

Faced with complaints of commuters on their return journey on the same ticket, the DMRC has formed special squads to rein in such passengers at all terminal stations of its network. Six special checking squad teams of customer relation assistants, junior station controllers and assistant station controllers have been constituted for the purpose, a DMRC spokesperson said.
The teams, code named as Alpha, Beta, Gama, Delta, Pie and Toe, have been deputed at all terminal stations of the DMRC network like Central Secretariat, Noida City Centre, Anand Vihar, Dilshad Garden and Rithala Metro stations where maximum number of such cases are reported, he said. Each team comprises 10 members. "The teams are provided with Portable Ticket Decoders, which enable them to decode the passenger tickets and impose a fine of Rs 50 if found performing a return journey on the same token," the spokesperson said. As per DMRC's business rule, return journey is not allowed using the same token.