Designer woes plague Mumbai Metro track

Within the first quarter of Mumbai Metro getting commissioned, some recurring and serious problems have emerged during operations between the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar line. An engineer from an international company will be visiting the corridor to check whether the problem lies in the design, or it is occurring because of another reason.

In order to make a loop of a railway network, points are made so that the metro or trains can change tracks and cross to its parallel line. These points are where the recurring problems have emerged on the 11.4-km long rail corridor.

The point that is giving Mumbai Metro authorities sleepless nights is that, just outside Ghatkopar metro station, the metro changes its tracks to enter the terminating station.

There are various types of point designs, one of which is the base plate based rail fastening system, wherein the rail track is placed on a metallic plate. The base plate positioned at this point is repeatedly giving problems.

Perhaps owing to the monsoon, the base plate is getting rusted, resulting in frequent point failures caused by the friction. On June 8, the inaugural day, point failure at Ghatkopar resulted in operations going haywire. One of the platforms was shut, which had a cascading effect on the services.

In order to address this concern, engineers from Vossloh, a German firm, are expected to reach Mumbai in the coming weeks.

Additionally, there have been repeated problems of the signalling system too, in between Jagruti Nagar and Ghatkopar stations, that ensure the metro remains off-schedule. This particular signal in question delayed the metro services on July 31 and August 1.