The Kolkata Metro Railway has requisitioned 50 rakes from the Integral Coach Factory to be able to run operations with increased frequency of two to three minutes intervals.
The city Metro yesterday completed replacement work of the conventional steel third rail with advanced highly conductive aluminium third rail across the entire underground section of the Blue Line. According to the Chief Public Relations Officer of city Metro, SS Kanan, during the commissioning of the first stretch of Kolkata Metro Railway around 41 years back, the power drawing system was through steel third rail as the rakes were non air-conditioned. Also, per consumption through the third rail does not require long tunnels.
Rakes drawing current from the third rail made the tunnel compact. However, after the Blue Line getting upgraded to AC rakes and the present fleet of 36 rakes, increased the power consumption, the city Metro undertook the installation of aluminium TRCC in 2024 that is anticipated to save power consumption. The major modernisation initiative in the underground section spanning over 38 km was upgraded with the aluminium TRCC yesterday is considered environment-friendly and expected to bring in cost saving in energy bills ,reduce carbon emission of 50,000 tonnes, enhance operational reliability and enable faster train operations on India’s first Metro corridor.
The technological upgrade is considered as the stepping stone for touching the milestone of running trains at gaps of two to three minutes. After completing the 38 km of the aluminium TRCC installation, the Metro has simultaneously taken up the projects with provision of seven new traction substations at a cost of Rs 291.06 crore. In addition, augmentation and upgrade of auxiliary substation (ASS) and traction substation (TSS) systems from Esplanade Metro to Kavi Subhash for the North-South Corridor of Kolkata Metro Railway, along with augmentation of power supply at elevated sections from Netaji Metro Station Kavi Subhash Metro station, including enhancement from existing 11 KV system to 33 KV system, at a cost of Rs 380.66 crore.
“The power substation upgrade is expected to take around two to three years. Apart from this, more rakes would be needed to increase the frequency,” informed Mr Kanan. “To achieve this, we have requisitioned 50 rakes from ICF. By two to three years, after upgrade of other infrastructures we would be able to achieve the two to three minutes headway or frequency for the Blue Line,” he added.