Operations Control Centre gears up to handle Chennai Metro

The Operations Control Centre, the nerve centre of the Chennai Metro Rail operations, is gearing up to handle metro rail shortly.

The ‎centre was installed by Siemens, which was also involved in setting up the signal and telecommunications systems for Chennai Metro Rail (CMRL), said a company official.

Officials in the centre will be controlling the entire rail movement, including the speed of the trains. The driver's role will be to start the train and to open and close the doors. The functioning is fully automatic and there is very little human intervention, unless there is an emergency, he said.

The centre was built in the same lines of the Delhi Metro, and where officials got training, he said.

Media persons were given a preview of the centre even as the first phase of the rail operations is likely to commence shortly.

In the first phase, a total of 43 trains will be operated with a frequency of ten minutes between two trains, the official said.

‎On Sunday, the Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu said that the first phase of the Chennai Metro Rail would be inaugurated immediately after the by-election in R K Nagar. “I am happy to inform you that the first phase of the Chennai Metro Rail is ready. Once the Code of Conduct is over, it will be inaugurated,” he told at a meeting.

Last month, the Ministry of Urban Development amended the Metro Rail General Rules, 2013, to allow operations on single line.

From Koyambedu to Ashok Nagar, Chennai Metro will run with operations on both tracks and from then on till Alandur, on a single track, the Ministry said in a release last month.

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