Kolkata: What ails the city's underground, its transportation lifeline, you might wonder. There are too many issues, really, starting with the fact that Kolkata's rapid transit network is the only one to be run by the railways and is dependent on the ministry in Delhi for funds and decision-making.
Other ailments include manpower shortage, rake shortage, low fare structure, and a lack of advanced technology, especially the signal and telecommunication system in the Blue Line. While modern signal and telecom system allows trains to operate services with an interval of 1.5 minutes between trains, the one in the Blue Line is capable of a maximum service frequency with 4-minute interval.
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, which is India's oldest metro system and also the country's first under-river transportation tunnels, needs a complete structural overhauling," a retired Metro Railway official said.
He mentioned Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) recently floating a Rs 21,000 crore tender for 2,856 AC Vande Metro coaches, with Alstom, BEML, and Titagarh Rail as key contenders.
"Only a corporation is bestowed with this kind of autonomy, not an organisation which happens to be the 17th railway zone," he said, pointing out Kolkata metro has just about 54 rakes (37 for Blue, Orange, Purple, and Yellow Lines and 17 for the Green Line) for its 74 km network.
While other metro systems in the country are jointly owned by the respective state govts and the Union urban development ministry and some are operated on a private-public partnership mode, Kolkata metro is under
.
Asked about the repeated disruptions, Hitendra Malhotra, member (operations and business development), Railway Board, in town on Thursday, said, "Metro Railway is analysing each incident and working towards improvement.
The general manager, Metro Railway, is discussing with his team of senior officers in detail and formulating an action plan for improvement. All efforts are being made to minimise them (disruptions).
" Improvement will be visible, assured Malhotra, who visited Metro Railway in the morning and Merchants' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) in the afternoon.
Sources said some changes are in order, both at macro and micro levels.
But decision-making takes time here. Revision of the low fare structure, for instance, is something Metro Railway has been contemplating for some time now.
The introduction of additional rakes that can increase train frequency and capacity can provide respite from overcrowding during peak travel time. It was tried in the Blue Line when the entire Green Line was made operational last month, but the additional services had to be withdrawn as disruption in services were driving schedules completely haywire.