Namma Metro’s second six-car train will hit the track by the end of this month. The BMRCL on Friday started working on pairing the second set of intermediate cars with an existing train.
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) officials said the train was received at Byappanahalli depot on Thursday evening and it may take about three weeks to assemble the coaches.
“The formation of a six-car train and initial testing will require about two weeks. Following this, various software and hardware compatibility will be checked. Trial runs and safety tests will be conducted internally before starting commercial operations,” a senior official in BMRCL said.
The Commissioner of Railway Safety, who gave the safety certificate for the first six-car train in June, had told DH that the corporation does not require clearance for subsequent trains.
Officials said the experience with the first train will make the process smooth for the next set of trains. “Though we got the first train in February, we could bring it on the track only in June as we had to familiarise with the technology and get clearances from multiple agencies and authorities,” they said.
The second six-car train will be deployed on the Purple Line (Byappanahalli-Mysore Road). “The train has been moved to Peenya depot for formation. The plan is to run it on Purple Line, which still sees heavy rush during peak hours, compared to Green Line (Nagasandra-Yelachenahalli),” an official said.
The daily ridership of Namma Metro had crossed 4.28 lakh on August 20, which was attributed to the increased carrying capacity after the introduction of the first six-car train.
The second six-car train is expected to boost it further in the coming days. The Bharat Earth Movers Limited will deliver 144 more cars (48 sets) by the end of the year.