Metro Rail safety inspected

Chennai’s Metro Rail is ostensibly one step closer to inauguration, as a team from the Commissionerate for Metro Rail Safety, Bengaluru, conducted the safety inspection on the Metro Rail track on Monday morning.

Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) S.K. Mittal and two of his colleagues, Deputy Commissioner for Rail Safety Srinivas, and Deputy Chief Electrical Engineer K. Palani scrutinised the safety of the ‘rolling stock’ of Chennai Metro Rail. That basically means inspecting all safety parameters for passengers who travel in Metro trains.

The team took the train from Koyambedu to Alandur, the first phase of the Metro Rail project, and back .

Metro Rail sources say the team will send a report to the Railway Board, based on Monday’s inspection, and the board will forward it to the Railway Ministry. Following this, a another visit will be scheduled to assess the safety parameters at stations, via ducts and other key infrastructure.

Officials at CMRL say that the safety certification is a pre-requisite to getting the go-ahead to run the services. However, the entire safety process would have to be completed before any decision on the launch is taken, they added.

The Koyambedu-Alandur stretch that is ready to roll is part of the corridor from Central Station to St. Thomas Mount. The safety audit was supposed to happen late last month, but was postponed, as the CMRS raised queries in certain documents.

CMRL Managing Director Pankaj Kumar Bansal and senior officers in charge of systems and operations, L. Narasim Prasad, and projects, R. Ramanathan, accompanied the CMRS team.