GHAZIABAD: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Saturday conducted a preliminary trial on the 9.4km Dilshad Garden-New Bus Stand metro corridor to check if there is any infringement on the track and also to ascertain if there is proper contact with overhead electric poles. Officials, however, said a full-fledged trial in which signalling system will also be checked, will start from Monday.The eight stations on this corridor are Shaheed Nagar, Raj Bagh, Rajendra Nagar, Shyam Park, Mohan Nagar, Arthala, River Hindon and New Bus Stand.The trial run of the Red Line extension started from Dilshad Garden metro station with six coaches, including the driver’s cabin, around 5.30pm and the train reached New Bus Stand in Ghaziabad at 8pm, covering a distance of 9.41 km.“The average speed of the train was about 3.5 km per hour and it passed through all eight stations on the alignment without any difficulty,” said Ajay Sharma, project manager, DMRC.After conducting the trial runs for nearly two months, DMRC will seek clearance from the commissioner of metro rail safety. The project will be commissioned only after that. It is expected to be commissioned by December.The MoU for Dilshad Garden-New Bus Stand metro line was signed between GDA and DMRC in 2014. Though it was expected to be completed in three years’ time, there was a one-year delay to start the work.The estimated cost of the project is Rs 2,210 crore which is jointly borne by the Centre, GDA, UP Housing Board and UPSIDC. However, due to the inability of some agencies to pay up its share, the project got delayed.Anuj Dayal, executive director (corporate communications) of DMRC, said, “During the trial runs, the interaction of the metro train with the physical infringements (civil structure) will be checked to ensure that there is no physical blockage during the movement of the train on the track. The entire signalling system will also undergo rigorous testing.”In addition, the response of the train at different speeds, braking of the train and the interconnection with the operations control centre (OCC) will also be monitored during the trials. The behaviour of the track system and the overhead electrification (OHE) will be checked repeatedly during all the trials.Construction of this corridor was a major challenge as it runs along the busy GT Road which has non-stop traffic running throughout the day. Due to this, most of the construction activities, including the launching of girders, had to be carried out during night hours.The stations of this corridor have been specially designed with the station buildings on either side of the road and the platform on the central verge along the viaduct i.e., the platforms are not a part of the station buildings. These are connected to each station building with the help of FOBs on either side.This would be the second metro line in Ghaziabad after Vaishali and the first metro link connecting the interiors of Ghaziabad. This corridor will pass through the Sahibabad Industrial Area and will significantly impact the residential areas lying in proximity.

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