NEW DELHI: In a few years from now, those driving to the northern parts of the city might find a Delhi Metro train zooming past on an adjacent lane marked off only by a fence. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation is mulling the use of its conventional trains on the capital’s first Metrolite corridor between Rithala and Narela instead of trains with smaller, articulated coaches.
The Metrolite corridor is part of Delhi Metro’s Phase IV project. The trains on this service will run on a nearly 22-km-long, rail-based corridor in the middle of the road, fenced off on both sides. Though no design has been finalised, the plan is to have smaller trains similar to other light rail projects around the globe because the ridership on the route is not expected to be high.
“While we have firmed up the alignment, the option of what type of train to use has been kept open,” DMRC’s managing director Mangu Singh told TOI. Singh said that the typical trains used for light rail projects were designed with sharp curves, steep gradients, etc, in mind and that was why such trains had short coaches. He said that compared with a Delhi Metro coach, which is 22 metres in length, Metrolite coaches are 10-11 metres long.
