Driverless safer, move will be gradual, say Metro officials

The first-of-its-kind ‘driverless’ trains in India come equipped with “track cameras to detect breakage and obstruction-detection equipment,” a DMRC official said (Representational/ File)

After several trial runs and delays, the Magenta Line of the Delhi Metro — with its “driverless trains” and Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling system — is set to ply between Botanical Garden in Noida and Kalkaji Mandir in Delhi, December 25 onwards.

For now, though, the trains — by South Korean major Hyundai Rotem — will be manned by operators, and will gradually move to Unattended Train Operations (UTO) mode. The first-of-its-kind ‘driverless’ trains in India come equipped with “track cameras to detect breakage and obstruction-detection equipment,” a DMRC official said. Transport expert Nalin Sinha called the new trains “the next level of technological upgrade”. “It is more accurate and efficient than human beings manning a train. Planes on auto-pilot are safer, just like that trains too are safer this way,” Sinha said.

The trains will ply using the CBTC signalling system. “The frequency will increase and the waiting period will go down to 90-100 seconds from two minutes,” a DMRC official said. London Underground’s Victoria Line was the first to be operated with Automatic Train Operation (ATO), in 1967; while the world’s first fully automated driverless mass-transit rail network is the Port Island Line in Kobe, Japan. Countries across the world, such as Spain, China, the US, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and Peru, have adopted this technology. “Coaches are fitted with fire detectors and platform screen doors on the entire line,” a DMRC official said.