Inspections complete for Chennai’s metro rail phase-2 Vadapalani-Poonamallee stretch

Chennai: The first operational stretch of the 118.1km phase-2 Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) project, between Vadapalani and Poonamallee, covering 15.8km, is likely to open to public within days, as final safety inspections required for commissioning were completed on Wednesday.Commissioner of railway safety (CRS), Southern Circle Bengaluru, Anant Madhukar Chowdhary conducted a second round of inspections on Tuesday and Wednesday. The review included speed trials and inspection of the backup operations control centre at Nandanam. Sources said the CRS approval, mandatory before passenger operations can begin, is expected within a day or two. The earlier target was to open the line by the end of Feb. "There will be a detailed deliberation after the inspection. We will give our comments. It will be mostly about technical issues. Then CMRS will take a call based on our explanations," a CMRL official said.
During Tuesday's speed trials, trains ran at 40km/h and 80km/h between Poonamallee and Porur, and at 40km/h between Porur and Vadapalani. Signalling systems onboard trains and along the corridor were also tested. On Wednesday, the CRS team assessed command systems at the control centre by issuing operational instructions to train operators.Sources said that once commissioned, trains will operate at a maximum of 40km/h between Porur and Vadapalani. The signalling system may not be fully automated in this section. While trains may be faster on Poonamallee-Porur section, the average speed of train operations on the entire stretch would be 32km/h. Driverless trains will run from Poonamallee to Vadapalani, but will skip six stations including the four double-decker stations at Alapakkam, Karambakkam, Valasaravakkam and Alwarthirunagar, along with Saligramam Warehouse and Saligramam, as they are still under construction. Passengers can use the skywalk at Vadapalani to connect with the existing phase-1 network.