KOLKATA (METRO RAIL NEWS): For the first time, electricity was charged along the third rail of Metro’s 4-km Dakshineswar extension on Sunday. The third rails supply power to the rakes through the third rail current collector (TRCC). The power connectivity to the third rail has been going on for the last week. “But the charging was done for the first time today. This is being done for trial, to check whether the system is functioning well,” an official of implementing agency Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) was quoted by a news agency.
The power connection is a prelude to trials for the Dakshineswar Metro, which is veering towards commissioning. The 4-km extension of the city’s existing north-south stretch to the temple town of Dakshineswar may be launched in end-December, Metro Railway general manager Manoj Joshi had said when he inspected the stretch on a trolley on November 10.
The tracks and the two stations — Dakshineswar and Baranagar — dotting the 4-km extension of India’s oldest Metro, which currently operates along 27km from Kavi Subhas station in New Garia, are ready. “But the entire system must be in place before the 4km new line gets off the block and the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) comes for his inspection,” a senior RVNL official said.
The CRS, under the ministry of aviation, gives the safety nod to any new Metro project across India. The crucial Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) equipment, sophisticated software that prevents accidents, arrived from Germany’s Siemens in November and is now being tested. Had the TPWS not run into lockdown restrictions, Dakshineswar Metro would have been launched in July.
