Lone rake pulls Purple Line ops, normal services from today
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Kolkata: The currently operational curtailed services of the Joka-Esplanade Metro are likely to continue to face challenges unless new rakes are added immediately.
An official, however, said late on Wednesday that normal services would be available from Thursday.
Till the beginning of May, the Joka-Majerhat section of the Purple Line ran on a basic signalling system, offering 18 services at 50-minute intervals, from 8.55 am to 3.35 pm. Following the advanced signalling upgrade, 44 services were added from May 9, and the six-hour services doubled. The automatic CBTC or communication-based train control signal helps improve frequencies. Even as the operational window was expanded (8 am to 8 pm), the old system continued, with a single rake running up and down the 8-km corridor, while another remained on standby.
In the extreme heat, the CBTC-compliant rakes, which require meticulous maintenance, became overworked, and consequently, the speed slowed down. The targeted 24-minute frequencies couldn't be met, officials said. On Monday evening, one of the rakes (No. 417) failed, following which the reserved train was put into service. Instead of 62 services, 48 were provided at 40-minute intervals.
"The Purple Line rake runs at around 30 kmph, covering 8 km in 16-17 minutes.
Add 5 minutes for reversing. That's a 24-minute gap between two services, rather tight for an overworked rake," an official said.
Kolkata Metro is supposed to receive 20 new eight-coach rakes in the next 10 months for the Purple, Orange (New Garia-Ruby), and Yellow (Noapara-Airport) lines, which are ready for meaningful expansions. "Equipped with an automatic CBTC signalling system, the Medha rakes made in Chennai's Integral Coach Factory should reach Kolkata Metro within the current fiscal," an official said.
Another 37 rakes were also ready, but the dispatching schedule had not been finalized, he said.
Metro Railway's fully air-conditioned fleet currently includes 31 rakes for the Blue (North-South), three for the Orange, two for the Purple, and 17 six-coach BEML rakes for Green (East-West Metro) lines. "Clearly that's not enough for an expanding Metro network. There aren't enough manpower either to seamlessly run the existing 31km North-South (Blue) line, which ferries six lakh passengers daily, and East-West Metro, with a lakh daily passenger count.
When the EW Metro starts its full 16-km length, another five lakh passengers will use the services every day. On top of this, the Purple and Orange lines are being expanded, and the Yellow line is set to roll out," said Subhasis Sengupta, vice-president, INTTUC-affiliated Metro Railway Pragatisil Sramik Karmachari Union. "Metro just about managed when the Purple Line was being run for six hours, on a single shift of workers, with one rake at its disposal. When hours doubled, two shifts were introduced, with limited manpower. The system is bound to fall apart if operations are expanded without strengthening infrastructure."
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Lone rake pulls Purple Line ops, normal services from today
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