Delhi Metro coaches lowered on tracks, to be assembled for trial run

For the first time in its history, DMRC lowered four Metro coaches on to the tracks at Lajpat Nagar station where they will be assembled before the trial runs on the Central Secretariat-Badarpur line begin in the first week of July.

The coaches, which were brought through trailers from the Mundka Standard Guage depot, were lowered on the inclined ramp between Jangpura and Lajpat Nagar by using a 270 tonne crane, which was equipped with a special adjustable boom which helped in quick stabilisation of the coaches on the track.
 
The coaches, each weighing 42 tonnes, were lowered one after another during the operation which started at around 11 PM last night and ended at 4.10 AM today, DMRC spokesman Anuj Dayal said.
   
The 20.16-km Central Secretariat-Badarpur corridor will be thrown open to the public in September, a month ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

DMRC had to lower the trains at the Lajpat Nagar station as there is no other way that the coaches can be brought to the station.

Trial runs on the Central Secretariat-Badarpur Standard Guage line will start in phases from July first week and will go on till the line is thrown open to the public in September, a month before the Commonwealth Games.

DMRC officials said the lowering of trains were a peculiar move since they do not have any other entry point.
    
The coaches will now be assembled on tracks at the Lajpat Nagar station and the trial runs will begin after July 5 from Central Secretariat-Lajpat Nagar section once the signalling and other works are completed on the 9-km section.

"The operation was a great engineering achievement as the coaches were stabled on a gradient (inclined) of about 4%. Generally, the rail coaches are stabled on a straight surface," Dayal said.

Two battery operated shunters were used to prevent the coaches from sliding down backwards on the incline. These shunters then pushed the coaches to the Lajpat Nagar Metro station where the coupling will be done, he said.
    
The entire exercise will help the DMRC save at least a month's time to meet its Commonwealth Games deadline.
    
This was the first-ever operation in India where Standard Gauge Metro rail coaches were lifted by cranes and stables on the inclined tracks, he said.
    
"Meticulous planing of over six months was done to implement the operation smoothly. All Cargo, a specialised agency was roped in to carry out the operation. About 400 people including DMRC engineers worked round the clock to implement the operation successfully," Dayal said.

DMRC's director (Electrical) Satish Kumar, director (Rolling Stock) HS Anand and director (Projects) Kumar Keshav personally supervised the entire operation.

Central Secretariat-Badarpur line will be the last corridor of DMRC's Phase-II project to be opened. The line saw the worst accident in July last year when an under-construction bridge collapsed killing seven people.
    
For the lowering of train, traffic on one side of the road from Jangpura flyover to Moolchand was halted for about 6 hours from 11 PM to 5 AM.

The timing of the operation was planned on Saturday night and Sunday morning to reduce inconvenience to the public, Dayal said.

In normal course, the trains would have been kept at the Sarita Vihar Depot located in the Central Secretariat-Badarpur
line and then brought into the section for trials.

However, as the construction of the Depot and other portions of the line is taking time this special method of lifting coaches by crane has been adopted by DMRC so that trials can begin early on the already completed section.
    
Central Secretariat-Badarpur Metro corridor is 20.16 kilometres long and has 16 stations.