Ahmedabad: CM Vijay Rupani today unveiled and inaugurated the public display of the mock-up version of a Metro rail coach which was replica of the ones to be used for Ahmedabad metro project.

The mock-up coach is 16 meter in length and is kept near Sabarmati riverfront in the city for public display.

CM Rupani along with Ahmedabad Mayor Bijalben Patel were the first ones to enter the coach here with which the driver/loco-pilot cabin’s model was also attached. They were also accompanied by school children.

Large number of commoners and children have flocked the site to have a glimpse of the coach.

CM Rupani later said that the trial run between Vastral village and Apparel Park on a 6.5-km stretch, called as “priority reach”, in east Ahmedabad would start in January. He said that Metro rail project would also be started in Surat city after Ahmedabad.

A senior metro official said that the coach has been designed in South Korea and arrived here via Mundra Port. It would remain at the Sabarmati riverfront for display for a few months.

MD, Metro Link Express for Gandhinagar Ahmedabad (MEGA)., I P Gautam said that the metro coaches and train to be run on the route would be state of the art and full automated. Due to a cyclone in Japan, the delivery of the coach has been delayed by a week. The coaches have been designed in South Korea, as per the international standards.”

He said that the mock coach is 16-meter long, while the regular coaches would be 22-meter long. The Ahmedabad metro with 3 coaches and an engine in the beginning would have the capacity to ferry 1000 people at a time. The number of coaches could be extended up to six. The metro stations have been designed in a way where six coaches can be parked. There will be sitting facility for around 40 person’s while in all around 250 to 300 people could travel standing in the coaches. These coaches like Delhi metro would have station indicators above the entry.exit doors.

The original coaches and engines are expected to arrive in December.

Mayor Bijalben Patel said that the travel fares for the metro would be finalized later.

The Metro Rail project is being implemented by the Metro Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA), a wholly-owned company of the Gujarat government.

During the first phase (Rs 10,773 crore) of the project, the metro train would connect eastern-western and northern-southern suburbs in Ahmedabad.

The train will be extended to Gandhinagar in the second phase.

DeshGujarat