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Sunday , 24 March 2024

Mumbai Metro-Connecting safely and efficiently

Challenges for VAG

The project faces many challenges too. A large number of unavoidable underground utilities along the corridor, very high density traffic at all hours of the day and night, large number of encroachments at various stretches of the ROW and one km of missing link area where the alignment goes through an area which has no road, are major challenges. The difficulties are also related to highly congested Andheri and Ghatkopar areas, crossing a very high traffic-ridden Western Railway track by way of a major steel bridge (where the frequency of trains is about 90 seconds and availability of power block limited to two hours at night) and crossing the Western Express Highway at a height of 22m through a huge cable stayed bridge. Also, one of the most complicated structures being constructed in the world with 18m Extended Pier caps and frequent changes of design and alignment due to restricted ROW and other ongoing infrastructure projects are the key challenges it faces. It will run on a dedicated elevated VAG corridor for which an elevated structure will be constructed on the median of the road. The stations on the entire route too, will be elevated and will be approached from the pavement.

Says SVR Srinivas, Additional Metropolitan Commissioner and Project Director, MMRDA, “We know that traffic jams and bad roads frustrate the people of Mumbai. It is not that we aren’t bothered but trying to find a feasible and foolproof solution that addressed the acute travelling situation the Mumbaikar faces on a daily basis, required thorough studies and consultations with international experts. We are happy that we are able to contribute now towards a safe, fast and advanced travel system. Mumbai desperately needed a MRT System and Mumbai will soon get it. Even after that, we are not going to rest with folded hands. We will continue to strive to make life of Mumbaikars comfortable and safe.”

Alignment

The Metro will require one-fifth energy per passenger km when compared with the road-based system. It is claimed by MMOPL that there will be no air pollution by Mumbai Metro and that its noise levels will be low too. It will occupy only 3m road space, which is the existing median. At its medium capacity level, it will carry traffic equal to seven lanes of bus traffic or 24 lanes of private motor cars (either way) at a time. It is touted as a more reliable, comfortable and safe system than the road based travel system which will reduce the journey time by 50% to 75% “depending upon road conditions”.

Benefits

In any huge construction, three major points are Civil Works, Rolling Stocks, and ‘Signalling and Communications’. The supplier of rolling stock is CSR Nanjing, China which will supply 18 trains. When it comes to Rolling Stocks, Safety Features, Passenger Information and Comfort are the prime factors.

Safety Features can be broken into six sub-heads:

Fire Retardant Interiors with stainless steel car-body: While the interiors are made of fire retardant materials, the car-body is made of stainless steel, again a fire retardant metal.

CCTV Surveillance System: to monitor activities inside the trains.

Passenger-Driver Communication: Passengers can speak directly with the train driver through intercoms located in each coach should an emergency arise.

Emergency Evacuation: All doors are so made that they can all be used for evacuation in case of emergency, instead of specific emergency doors.

Black Box: records all vital information.

Obstacle Detection: helps to avoid trapping between the doors.

Passenger Information: There are LCD Panels (each coach has LCD displays for passenger information and advertisements), Audio/Visual Passenger Information System which can be used for announcements & displays and Electronic Route Maps which indicate the location of the trains and their running direction.

Comfort: Five major aspects are taken care of in this feature of Rolling Stocks. All coaches are air-conditioned. In case the air-conditioning fails, there is provision for emergency ventilation too. The driver’s cab has separate air-conditioning. At two locations in each coach, wheel chairs can be placed. And special interest has been given to keep the interior noise in the coaches at the minimum so that the passengers’ ride proves to be a good experience.

Signalling and Telecommunications

Claimed to be one of the safest, fastest and most reliable systems, the Metro offers the latest signalling and communications technology. Along with cab signalling, Continuous Automatic Train Control (CATC) with Automatic Train Protection System (ATPS) facility to control the high volume of train movements is provided.

The radio system in the train allows driver’s communication with the Central Control Room (CCR). All the stations are connected through fiber optics for all communications.

There is public announcement (PA) facility for information on trains & platforms and Public Information Display System (PIDS) is available for displaying the information schedule of train arrivals and time of the day.

CCTV is provided for continuous surveillance and monitoring both in train and on platforms. The state-of-the-art communication system includes Telephone system, Train Radio System and Centralised Clock System. The clocks are tuned with GPS.

The signalling and control system, based on Distance To Go (DTG) Technology (that is known for high reliability and safety standards), is being provided by Siemens, Germany while Thales Group of Portugal is providing the communications system. Thales is a French company that delivers Information Systems and services for Aerospace, Defence, Metro and Security markets.

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