Title - Railway body to scrutinize Metro tracks, coaches for safety

AHMEDABAD: After finalizing the metro project schedule, the Metrolink Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA) Company Limited has begun technical discussions with the Research, Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO). This body of the railway ministry scrutinizes issues related to the safety and design of coaches and tracks.RDSO will examine the safety parameters and energy efficiency of MEGA operations. After the RDSO has examined MEGA's Metro design, a certificate from the commissioner of rail safety will be required before orders can be placed for metro coaches and their construction can begin.MEGA is midway in the exercise to shift utilities such as water supply lines and drainage from the Metro route."The utility shifting had begun much before the project schedule was drawn up. We learnt from Metro rail constructions in other cities of the country that utility-shifting activity is the single biggest reason for project delay. So we worked on that first," said a senior official at MEGA.

MEGA officials have submitted a bunch of technical specifications, called the schedule of dimensions (SoD), to the RDSO. The SoD contains information about certain safety aspects of metro structures like viaducts and tracks and design aspects like the width of viaducts, track parameters and rolling stock. "The design of the tracks and coaches are according to national standards," said the MEGA official.

Core infrastructure work will begin in October this year, while the first phase of the project will commence commercial operations in August 2017. The second phase will be fully operational in March 2021, say MEGA officials.