15 more trains to be added to Delhi Metro phase-1

New Delhi, Sep 9 (UNI) With its ridership levels up by 30 per cent, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has decided to place an order for another 15 train sets for its Phase-I network to provide more frequent and comfortable service to its Metro commuters.

These trains will supplement the 10 train sets that have already been added to the Metro fleet this year to meet the growing ridership, DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dyal said.

With the procurement of the new trains, the size of the fleet of the Delhi Metro, which presently has 70 trains, will go up to 85.

Each of the new trains, which will have four coaches each, can carry up to 1,500 commuters per trip and the order for the same is being placed with the consortium of Mitsubishi Corporation, ROTEM and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MRM), which had supplied the earlier trains for the DMRC.

The Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), Bangalore, which has a technical tie-up with the MRM consortium, will make these trains.

The delivery of the new trains is tentatively expected to start from the end of 2008 onwards.

The procurement of new trains is mainly due to the sharp rise in ridership levels on the Metro network in recent months.

The induction of seven new trains on the Metro network since April, of the 10 additional trains procured earlier this year, has seen average ridership increase from 4.72 lakh to 6.15 lakh, a jump of about 30 per cent.

It has been seen that the average ridership of the Metro has seen a steady rise ever since these trains were inducted. The first was inducted in April this year and the average ridership increased to 5.01 lakhs from 4.72 lakh in March. Three more trains were inducted in May and the average ridership increased to 5.34 lakh.

In July, two trains were inducted and the average ridership jumped to 5.96 lakh. Another train was put into service in August and the average ridership increased to 6.15 lakh. The three remaining trains are likely to be inducted by the end of this month.

Thus, the induction of seven trains since April, has seen the average ridership increase from 4.72 lakh to 6.15 lakh, a jump of about 30 per cent. With these trains in service, the peak hour frequency on the Metro network has been reduced from 5 minutes to 4 minutes. The addition of 15 new trains from next year will further reduce the headway between trains.

At present, about 6.5 lakh riders travel on the Metro system on each working day, which means that the actual occupancy is 9.3 lakh per day, as a recent survey showed that 43 per cent of commuters use two or three trains during each trip.

UNI