Other States - New Delhi   

Row over safety aspects of Delhi Metro

By Vinay Kumar

NEW DELHI DEC. 17. With just a week for its flag-off, an unseemly controversy brewing over certain safety aspects of the newly-imported rolling stock of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) continues to ruffle feathers both in the Rail Bhavan and the Ministry of Urban Development. It would take some more efforts to straighten out the entire issue that has caused a Rail Bhavan-DMRC row.

A day after the Railway Board washed its hands off the Delhi Metro in respect of safety and technical planning, the ball was rolled back in its court by the Cabinet Secretariat where a high-level meeting today decided that the Railway Ministry should remain the nodal body in terms of giving clearances of safety and technical planning to DMRC, an equal partnership venture between the Central Government and the Delhi Government which is being treated as a non-governmental railway.

The view was that any rail mounted transportation system should be treated as "railway'' and it should obtain safety and technical nod from the Railway Ministry. The legal opinion given by the Law Ministry at the time of selecting broad gauge for the Delhi Metro is said to have prevailed at the meeting.

As the DMRC announced that it had secured the green signal from the Commissioner for Railway Safety (CRS) and the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) which had done the final inspection of the 8.3-km Shahdara-Tis Hazari section, the question being asked is how the DMRC proposed to take remedial action on the objections raised by the RDSO in its report on the oscillation, braking distance and bogie rotation trials. There was another view that the CRS should be empowered to give safety clearances for urban transportation systems like Delhi Metro on his own. As the CRS has to fall back upon others to carry out tests, the CRS on its own, coming under the Civil Aviation Ministry, would not be fully independent to give a go-ahead. It could also be seen as abdication of its responsibility by the Railway Ministry.

Another issue of prime concern is that the CRS has no machinery at his disposal barring expert teams from RDSO who could conduct tests and give their recommendations. Since the RDSO has already recorded its negative findings in respect of DMRC rolling stock, could it mean that recommendation of speed cut on Metro to ensure safety, made by the CRS, would also have the approval of the Railway Ministry?

In its report, the RDSO raised at least half-a-dozen crucial safety issues, all of which cannot be solved by reducing running speed. At best, speed reduction can be a temporary measure. For example, jerks up to 14 g per second-cube against limit of 0.75 at the time of stopping can be improved by reducing braking forces and speed and emergency braking distance beyond limits by 42 meters in wet rail condition and 48 metres in dry rail condition can also be controlled by reducing speeds temporarily.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Sheila warns parties siding with auto drivers
• Row over safety aspects of Delhi Metro

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu