Sector V Metro inauguration: ‘Proud to be part of this journey’

KOLKATA: The first East-West Metro train that rolled out of the Sector V station at 5.10pm on Thursday was driven by 32-year-old Dipak Kumar — a resident of Lakkhisarai in Bihar — who has been a mortorman for more than a decade. He helmed a rake along the full 5km stretch from Sector V to Salt Lake stadium, while railway minister Piyush Goyal followed in another rake.
“I am proud to be a part of this landmark journey,” Kumar said at the end of the ride.
In May 2018, Kumar, along with four others, were taken out of the North-South services and inducted into a training programme for the East-West Metro. The team went through extensive training — organized by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation and the Hyderabad Metro Rail Corporation — to get acquainted with the new BEML trains. Along with S A Ansari — also from Kolkata — Kumar emerged as one of the best.
For Thursday’s inauguration, two rakes were kept ready. Kumar started the day at 6.19pm by driving the inaugural rake from the Central Park depot to the Sector V station, where it was flagged off by Goyal. His colleague Ansari drove the second rake that carried Goyal till the City Centre station. “My parents were anxiously waiting for this day. They know that I am among the first batch of drivers who will run the East-West Metro rakes. They are proud and excited,” Kumar told TOI.
East-West Metro trains run on a communication-based train control and signalling system. The latter has no posts or fixed blocks. The running trains pick up signals from the tracks, which open for a train only after the earlier train has moved. If the tracks ahead are clogged, the train will automatically come to a halt.
Trains on the North-South route run on a protection and warning system that makes them stop only if the signal is red.