Indore (Madhya Pradesh):   Metro trains will start running in Indore soon. The commercial operation of the metro rail project is now awaiting the green signal from the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) and if everything goes well, the metro train can start running in the city from this month or next month. An official of Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MPMRCL) gave this information on Wednesday. 

Waiting for the green signal from CMRS

He said that the work of submitting the necessary documents to CMRC by MPMRCL is in its final stages and after this, the CMRC team will fix the date of inspection of the Metro Rail depot and stations and will review the security arrangements. He said that if the CMRC gives the green signal after the inspection, the commercial operation of the Metro Rail in the city can start this month or from February. 

The official said that initially the metro rail will be run on the highest priority corridor of 5.90 km between Gandhi Nagar station of the city and station number-three of the Super Corridor. He said that the metro rail experimental test (trial run) on this corridor was done in September 2023. However, experts say that due to the scattered population on this route, the metro rail may face a shortage of passengers in the beginning. 

A train of six coaches will run

The MPMRCL official said, "Once the metro rail starts in the city and the length of its route increases, there will be no shortage of passengers." The official said that the metro rail stations in the city have been designed in such a way that a six-coach train can run through them. However, he said, "Initially we will run a three-coach train. If the number of passengers increases, three more coaches can be added to it." 

The official said that about 300 passengers can travel in one coach of the metro rail, including 50 people sitting on the seats. He said that the foundation of the first phase of the metro rail project costing Rs 7,500.80 crore in Indore was laid on 14 September 2019. Under this, a circular shaped metro rail corridor of about 31.50 km is to be built in the city.