Nagpur: Work on Nagpur Metro’s next stretch slated for commissioning from Lokmanya Nagar (near Hingna) to Subhash Nagar is progressing at a fast pace. According to MahaMetro officials, 70% civil work of the viaduct and five stations is over. The target for commissioning this stretch is December 2018.
According to a MahaMetro official, 90% of the civil work would be over by June and it would be complete by mid-July. “We have started laying tracks from Lokmanya Nagar end. It will start from Subhash Nagar end in another two to three weeks,” he said.
Erection of electric traction poles will also begin within a month. “Signalling and telecommunication equipments will be installed soon. In some weeks, we will start the work at our five stations. Currently, we are designing the signalling system. Now, we are going for communication-based train control (CBTC) system and not the common one,” the source said.
When all these works are completed, MahaMetro will start holding trial runs on the stretch. The first batch of its own wagons will reach Nagpur from China in September. So, the trial run will be done with MahaMetro’s own coaches.
After all the works are over, MahaMetro will hold a trial run. The results of the trial will be sent to Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO), Lucknow, for approval. The RDSO certificate will be submitted to the commissioner of Metro rail safety (CMRS), which in turn will do inspections of the section. MahaMetro will be able to go for commercial operations after CMRS issues a certificate.
The MahaMetro official said that joyrides on the lines of Airport South-Khapri stretch won’t be held on this stretch. “We may directly go for commercial operations as we feel that we might get some passenger traffic. However, a final decision will be taken later,” he added.
MahaMetro feels that it will get real passenger traffic when Sitabuldi to Airport South stretch is ready. The deadline for this is March 2019. The agency has set a target of completing the entire project by December 2019. Now, this target seems to be too ambitious. The trial run of at grade stretch was held in September 2017 but it got CMRS certificate in April 2018.
