The
Airport Express Metro is unlikely to resume service by Diwali, though repairs
on the corridor is almost complete.
The
airport line has been shut for repairs for the past four months, since July 8,
after structural damage was detected on the 22.7-km corridor. The line links
New Delhi railway station with Indira Gandhi International Airport and Dwarka.
Officials
had earlier said service could resume by Diwali. But it could be further
delayed because of the pending inspection of the corridor by the Commissioner
of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) R K Kardam.
Officials
said the CMRS would inspect the line and give a safety clearance. This could
delay resumption of service by a month, they said.
“Three
sets of documents have been forwarded to the CMRS. The documents provide
information on the nature and design of the repairs. These will be studied in
detail and only then a clearance could be given. So far, the date for the CMRS
inspection has not been fixed,” a senior official said.
The
CMRS, however, said his office has not received until Thursday any application
to carry out the safety inspection. “No document requesting for a safety
inspection has been received,” Kardam said.
But
officials insisted that the CMRS has been invited to give clearance to the
corridor to run trains at 120 kmph.
Earlier,
CMRS R K Kardam didn’t take much time to inspect the corridor prior to its
inauguration in 2011. He didn’t approve the proposal run trains on the corridor
at that speed. Fresh applications were being sent to him to approve the
corridor following the repairs. Documents relating to his objection to the speed
limit have also been sent, an official said.
“It
isn’t a statutory requirement to get a revised safety clearance from the CMRS.
Since several technical and civil repairs were carried out on the corridor, the
need was felt to get an inspection done,” the official said.
Sources
said the CMRS inspection was proposed by the Reliance-backed operator, Delhi
Airport Metro Express Pvt Ltd (DAMEPL), and supported by the Union Urban
Development Ministry.
Concessionaire
DAMEPL claimed that it had forwarded the documents to the Delhi Metro Rail
Corporation (DMRC) on Monday.
“According
to protocol, the request for an inspection was sent to Delhi Metro on Monday.
This will be forwarded by the CMRS. The corridor is expected to resume
operations soon,” a DAMEPL spokesperson said.
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