KMRC plans expansion of E-W Metro depot, may lay 6 new tracks
Times of India | 17 April 2024
Kolkata: The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) is planning the first significant expansion of East-West Metro’s upkeep-cum-parking hub at Salt Lake’s Central Park. The maintenance depot currently has space to house 23 rakes. Post expansion, it will be able to accommodate 29 rakes.
TOI on Friday reported E-W Metro is likely to get 11 more six-car rakes in the next two years, taking the total to 25.Sometime between June and Aug, three new rakes manufactured by Bengaluru-based PSU BEML will be inducted into the existing fleet of 14. “The expansion plans have just been submitted to the higher authority. Cost implications are being calculated,” a Railways official said.
KMRC has proposed laying six more tracks or stabling lines to make room for six more rakes. A location has been identified for the expansion inside the 38.5-acre facility at Central Park.
KMRC needs more rakes before the entire 16.6 km corridor is opened and trains are run at a 5-minute frequency. East-West Metro now operates in two disjointed stretches — the 9.4 km Sector V-Sealdah line and the 4.8km Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section.
KMRC had inked the first agreement with BEML to procure 14 rakes for Rs 900 crore. In April 2018, the first rake arrived in the depot, built at Rs 280 crore. The 14th rake was delivered in July 2020.
BEML CMD Shantanu Roy told TOI on Thursday, “According to the second agreement, three rakes should be delivered between June and Aug. But East-West Metro will need more rakes to run the system efficiently.”
The upkeep depot includes the main workshop and the central control unit of the Metro. There are also pits for undergear inspection and rake maintenance. Major repairs are carried out in the main workshop.
Work for the standard gauge maintenance depot started in 2011 and ended in Jan 2018. It was the first to boast of various facilities, like the automatic train washing plant that can carry out washing of the external body of the standard-gauge BEML-make rakes. Consolidated Construction Consortium Ltd gave shape to the stabling yard with a total built-up area of 6,31,000 sqft. The green stabling yard adheres to all ecological norms, including energy, water and power conservation. It has been designed in a way to maximise energy efficiency; it also has solar panels.