Chennai Metro Rail Limited conducts its first trial run on Phase II network amid a few technical glitches

Beset with some initial technical glitches, the trial run of Chennai Metro Rail’s first driverless train for the Phase II network was held on Thursday night.

Due to technical glitches in the overhead equipment, the trial run, which was expected to start around 5 p.m. at the Poonamallee Depot, was held only around 11.30 p.m. The train, which departed from Poonamallee Depot, was operated for a distance of 3 km and reached Mullaithottam around 11.45 p.m.

According to Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) officials, though they expected the trial run to start at 5 p.m., some problems caused an initial delay. But after 6 p.m., technical issues kept cropping up in the overhead equipment.

“On the viaduct, about a kilometre from the depot, a cable of the overhead equipment snapped, and there were sparks for a couple of seconds. We then carried out the repair work. Hence, the trial run was delayed by a couple of hours,” an official said.

“Though it was a driverless train, it was operated by a driver because it was a trial run. The train was operated at a speed of around 15 kmph,” an official said. These trials are likely to continue on a daily basis, the official added.

Poonamallee Bypass to Mullaithottam forms a part of the corridor 4 of the Phase II network. The entire length of this corridor is 26.1 km, starting at Poonamallee Bypass and going all the way till Light House. Various construction and system installation works are under way on the 9-km stretch of this corridor between Poonamallee Bypass and Porur Junction.

It is likely to be completed by the end of this year.