East West Metro begins trials for automatic train operation mode

The East West Metro Railway has started trials for running its rakes in the automatic train operation mode, which will facilitate increasing the frequency between two trains to four minutes from the present five to six minutes, a senior official said on Tuesday.

The rakes of the East West Metro can run in two modes - ATP (automatic train protection) and ATO (automatic train operation), its spokesperson Indrani Banerjee said. The existing system in which trains in East West Metro were being run was ATP, she said. "With the introduction of the ATO system, the frequency between two trains can be increased to four minutes from five to six minutes," the official said. She said that time loss caused by manual driving by motormen will be done away with in the ATO mode, thus ensuring increased frequency.

Trials for running the rakes, manufactured by BEML, in ATO mode began on Monday, Banerjee said. She said this phase of trial involves interface of rolling stock with the signalling system.

"There has not been any glitch during the trial so far and further fine tuning will be done if required. As per the ATO mode, the rakes will run using the Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) system," she said. Train operations using the system will be totally menu driven, the official said.