One cannot picture Kolkata without its iconic local trains and metros. And while Kolkata Metro undergoes a makeover, it is all set to get colour-coded metro lines like Delhi. The colour coding will help commuters differentiate the various lines of the services. The Garia-Airport project will be in the orange line and the line from Baranagar to Barrackpore will be yellow. Further, the Howrah Maidan to Sector will be green and Joka to Esplanade will be purple respectively.
The Kolkata East-West Metro project is one of the city’s most ambitious rail projects. Trials to run these metro trains on auto mode began . It is believed that the automatic operations of these metro trains will be better for commuting.
The Frequency Between Trains To Go Up To 4 Minutes
Driverless trains can potentially enable the frequency between two trains to increase to four minutes, from the existing five-six minutes. Kolkata Metro spokesperson Indrani Banerjee told PTI that the rakes of East-West Metro can run in two modes – Automatic Train Protection (ATP) mode and Automatic Train Operation (ATO) mode. Currently, the East-West Metro trains run in the ATP mode, she explained. She further added that ATO mode can make up for the time lost owing to motormen’s manual driving.
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Trains To Function More Smoothly
So far, no glitches have been observed, the official said, adding that further fine-tuning will be done if required. The trains will run on the Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) system, the operations will be menu-driven. It would also mean more accuracy in knowing a train’s position, compared to the traditional signalling system. Banerjee also told the PTI that using ATO mode will ensure jerk-free travel, with smooth braking.
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The Kolkata East-West Metro, or Line 2, presently operates within Salt Lake. A 10.8 km underwater tunnel in the Hooghly River will connect Teghoria and Howrah in the future.