The Delhi Metro is planning reduce over-crowding on trains by inducting 68 eight-coach trains on its network this year.
The eight-coach trains, which will be the first of its kind in the country, will ply on the Noida/Vaishali and Gurgaon corridors — the most-crowded lines on the network that now have 185 km of the national capital on its map.
Over-crowding is a major problem on the Delhi Metro which now has a ridership of over 20 lakhs and the modern transport system has been taking a number of steps to reduce it like procuring additional coaches.
Once converted into eight-coach, a train can accommodate over 2,400 people per trip. Currently, a six-coach train can accommodate 1,800 passengers, a Delhi Metro spokesman said.
As part of its efforts, the Delhi Metro has placed orders for 212 cars from Mitsubishi-Rotem-Mitsubishi electrical and German train-maker Bombardier and the delivery is expected to start in September 2012 and end in May, 2013.
While Mitsubishi-Rotem-Mitsubishi electrical will provide 136 coaches, Bombardier will supply 76 cars manufactured from its plant in Gujarat’s Savli.
The move comes in the middle of Delhi Metro expanding its four-coach trains into six coaches and with the ridership increasing steadily, the organisation decided to further expand them to eight-coach ones. Thirty-one four coach Rotem trains on the over-crowded Noida and Vaishali Lines will be converted into eight coach trains, while 37 six-coach Bombardier trains will be expanded into eight-coach ones by May 2013.
Currently, the Delhi Metro has a fleet of over 200 trains. Delhi Metro’s ridership has been increasing steadily in the past one year after corridors on the Phase-II project were inaugurated.