New Delhi: While the national capital has been witnessing all-time high temperatures on multiple occasions and no immediate respite in sight, Delhi Metro is silently offering its cool services across the network by performing over 4,200 train trips running around 1.40 lakh km daily. Thereby, giving much-needed relief to commuters with a 24-degree Celsius pleasant commuting experience.
Throughout May, when summer peaked and temperature even breached the 50-degree mark for the first ever time in India, Delhi Metro offered its services most reliably and comfortably with no breakdowns or AC failures reported from any of its trains or underground stations which are designed for air-conditioning.
At present DMRC has a fleet of over 345 trains with around 5000 AC units installed in them. To ensure that all AC units give their optimum performance during peak summers, a comprehensive health checkup for these AC units is done before the onset of summer in March every year.
In this check-up, it is ensured that faulty components, if any, are timely weeded out and replaced with healthy ones to provide an unhindered cooling experience to its commuters during peak summers. In addition, regular maintenance of these AC units is also undertaken every three months. Besides this, train operators also regularly monitor coach temperature to promptly address any issues related to temperature variation and ensure a pleasant journey experience for passengers.
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Similarly, all underground stations are also equipped with state of art building management system (BMS) and Chiller Plan Manager (CPM) for remote monitoring and control of air conditioning equipment/units. This system continuously monitors the ambient and station temperature on a real-time basis and takes action to maintain the station temp between 25 and 27 degrees Celsius, even when outside temperatures range from 45 to 50 degrees Celsius.
Regular inspections are being conducted on infrastructure components sensitive to heat, such as escalators and lifts, to prevent malfunctions. The frequency of maintenance checks for heat-sensitive types of equipment is also increased during such a period. To prevent any incidence of fire which is a common phenomenon during such heat waves, DMRC has a robust mechanism of fire extinguishers and hoses at its stations which are regularly maintained especially at strategic locations in and around metro premises. Sprinkler systems are regularly checked and maintained so that they can be quickly activated in case of a fire.
It is noteworthy to mention that the average passenger journeys observed in May 2024 recorded a high of 60.17 lakh against the 52.41 Lakh recorded in May 2023. This is a testimony to the fact that normalcy has bounced back after the Covid pandemic besides the popularity of Metro as the preferred mode of transport during these scorching days.
Apart from Operations, on the Project (construction) front too, DMRC has implemented the provision of providing breaks to the workforce during the afternoons due to the ongoing heatwave. Other necessary provisions such as drinking water, and medical facilities have also been made available at all our sites. It has been ensured that the workforce is not exposed to excessive heat. All Project Managers have been instructed to monitor that these instructions are stringently adhered to by the contractors.
—ANI