Kolkata Metro to Implement Driverless Trains with Rs 800 Crore Signalling System

Kolkata Metro is introducing an Rs 800 crore Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) system enabling driverless operations on Joka-Esplanade and Kavi Subhash-Biman Bandar routes. The safe and flexible system will extend to the North-South Corridor, with plans to cover the entire network within five years.

Kolkata Metro is installing Rs 800 crore high-end signalling system which will enable the authorities to operate trains without drivers in two more routes, an official said on Thursday.

The Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) system is currently being installed on Joka-Esplanade and Kavi Subhash-Biman Bandar Metro corridors. It already exists in the East-West Metro corridor.

With the help of this CBTC signalling system, which is in use in countries like Spain and Denmark, trains can run without motormen – drivers in Metro parlance. The mechanism will also come up in the 40-year-old North-South (Dakshineswar-New Garia) Corridor, which is the country's first Metro system and Rs 500 crore has been allocated for that, the official said.

''This state-of-the-art signalling system is very safe and gives flexibility to train operations,'' he added.

Within the next five years, the entire network of Kolkata Metro will be covered with the ATO (Automatic Train Operations) mode of the CBTC system. In the ATO mode, motormen do not have any role in running a train and they only need to press buttons to close doors and start the train.

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