Bhopal Metro’s Trial Runs Begin on Orange Line

Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Co Ltd (MPMRCL) on Tuesday started trial runs (train testing) on a 3.6 km elevated portion of the the 27.9 km Bhopal Metro Phase 1 project‘s Priority Corridor.

MPMRCL and Alstom’s rolling stock teams manually operated train TS-02, one of their new Alstom MOVIA train-sets, out of Subhash Nagar Depot and onto 14.99 km Orange Line’s elevated corridor to Rani Kamlapati Railway Station (earlier known as Habibganj Station) and back.

This train-set – the first of 27 intended for Bhopal Metro, had arrived at Subhash Nagar Depot in mid-September 2023.

As always, the sole objective of the first run at a low-speed was to check for Schedule of Dimensions (SOD) clearances and observe the train’s interaction with the civil structure to ensure there are no physical obstructions along the way.

The Subhash Nagar – Rani Kamlapati Railway Station section of Bhopal Metro’s Orange Line was built by Dilip Buildcon through a Rs. 247.06 crore contract awarded in October 2018. DBL’s team had launched the viaduct’s final of 1851 precast segments in November 2022.

The project’s Priority Corridor includes 8 stations at Subhash Nagar, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Board Office Chauraha (erst. DB mall), MP Nagar, Rani Kamalapati, DRM Office, Alkapuri and AIIMS.

Official trial runs are planned to flagged off on October 3, 2023.

In the coming months various subsystems along with the train’s response to being operated at different speeds & braking, and the behavior of the track and Third Rail systems will be monitored.

Here’s a cool video compilation on YouTube of the train shot at various locations:

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– TMRG