Kolkata Metro to Receive China-made Rakes from December

Kolkata, Oct 4 (PTI) The Metro Railway will start receiving delivery of 14 rakes from Chinese manufacturer Dalian from December, while four other rakes are awaiting safety clearance, Kolkata Metro general manager P C Sharma said.

Trials are over for four rakes delivered by Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Perumbur and fitness certificate for these are awaited, he said.

"We are in touch with RDSO (Research Designs & Standards Oeganisation) for clearance and are trying our best to get it at the earliest," Sharma said here on Wednesday.

He said that the first of the 14 rakes ordered from Dalian is scheduled to arrive in December and three more will come in the next three months of the current fiscal year 2018-19.

The remaining 10 rakes will arrive by the end of next financial year 2019-20, Sharma said.

The Kolkata Metro has been saddled with several old rakes, which have been in service since its inception in 1984.

Of the 26 rakes in operation, 13 are old and non-AC.

The first of the 16 rakes ordered from ICF was delivered in July 2017, with three more were received by the Metro later.

However, these are yet to be introduced for passenger service pending RDSO's safety clearance.

Kolkata Metro had ordered 40 air-conditioned rakes from different manufacturers to augment its services.

While 16 are from ICF, 14 are from Dalian and the rest 10 rakes are from CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Company of China, according to Metro spokesperson Indrani Banerjee.

The Kolkata Metro at present runs between Kavi Subhash in the southern end of the city to Noapara in the northern outskirts over a route length of 27.22 km.

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