8 months ago
3
Chennai Metro Rail’s driverless trains, intended for the 118.9-km signifier II project, person been arriving successful the metropolis since October 2024. However, these are not the trains that volition beryllium operated on the archetypal agelong — Poonamallee to Porur (a tiny conception of corridor 4 that runs from Poonamallee to Light House via Porur and Panagal Park) — during the archetypal signifier of operations.
This is due to the fact that these trains bash not person the partition separating the rider manager and the driver’s console.
In the signifier I network, trains person an enclosed driver’s cabin, arsenic they are not designed for driverless operations. Passengers cannot entree this compartment for information reasons. Unlike signifier I, Chennai Metro Rail procured driverless trains for the signifier II network, and determination is nary partition betwixt the driver’s console and the rider coaches successful 17 of the trains that person arrived truthful far. Passengers lasting astatine the beforehand of these trains, successful the driver’s console, would get a spectacular presumption of the city.
However, Chennai Metro Rail modified its plans a fewer months ago.
According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), during the archetypal months of operation, the trains volition beryllium operated by drivers and volition gradually modulation to driverless mode successful the future. Owing to this alteration successful plans, CMRL ordered caller trains equipped with a partition betwixt the driver’s console and the coach. The archetypal bid with specified a partition has already arrived successful the city, and the 2nd is expected wrong a fewer days. CMRL volition necessitate astir 8-10 specified trains to run the Poonamallee-Porur stretch. The remaining trains with partitions are expected to get successful the coming weeks.
“Such partitions are crucial, considering the information of passengers. To forestall entree to the driver’s console, we person asked the contractor to present trains with partitions. Once we statesman driverless operations successful the future, these partitions volition beryllium removed, and commuters tin bask the presumption during their travel,” an authoritative said.
