In the last week of April, the trials were held on the upline track for the first driverless train set.
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam
Chennai Metro Rail will extend the trial run to the downline track between Porur and Poonamallee as part of the phase-II project on June 6.
Work on various stretches in the three corridors of the 118.9 km phase-II project is gathering pace; of these, the 9.1 km Poonamallee-Porur stretch (part of corridor 4), the first line scheduled to be inaugurated by the year-end, is in the advanced stages of construction, with trial runs planned for the second track.
In the last week of April, the trials were held on the upline track between Poonamallee and Porur for the first driverless train set. Subsequently, the focus shifted to the track and overhead equipment work on the downline track with May-end as the target for the trial.
However, sources said, there were delays in completing the track work by a week, and now, the trial run of the downline track was likely to begin on Friday at 8 a.m.
According to officials of the Chennai Metro Rail Limited, the train will be brought from the Poonamallee depot to Porur Junction, where it changes tracks for the test.
“On Wednesday night, power will be supplied to the downline track, and the necessary checks will be carried out before the trial run,” a source said.
So far, five trains have reached the depot and are undergoing tests. Another one is expected to reach the city next week.
The trials, which began in the last week of April, continued for some time. However, they were held off for the last few weeks owing to civil work on the viaduct, preparation for the downline trials, and track and overhead equipment work, sources said. But the two trains have been undergoing dynamic testing as usual on the test track.
Once the trial run commences on the downline track, multiple train testing will resume on the viaduct between Poonamallee and Porur from the second week of June, sources said.
Published – June 05, 2025 12:29 am IST