Kolkata Metro will get 40 new air-conditioned rakes, the first of which has been delivered to the public carrier, Metro Railway sources said here.

“Kolkata Metro has ordered new rakes from Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Perambur, Dalian and CRRC Zhuzhou of China,” Metro spokesperson Indrani Banerjee told PTI here.

Trial runs soon

The ICF Perambur-manufactured air-conditioned rake with advanced features that has arrived in the city, will undergo trial runs before it embarks on passenger service before Durga Pujas in September, Banerjee said.

The country’s first metro railway system will get another new rake from ICF in September, which will be followed by phased arrivals of 38 more rakes.

Apart from the air-conditioned rake that has already arrived, another 15 have been ordered from ICF, Perambur, the spokesperson said.

“The city metro will also start getting delivery of 14 new rakes manufactured by Dalian of China by the year-end,” Banerjee said. The rest 10 rakes have been ordered from CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Company of China, she said.

Power saving system

The new rakes from ICF will have regenerative braking system in which the energy generated while braking will be directly fed into the third rail, carrying the power mains. “This will lead to power savings of 20 per cent,” Banerjee said.

At present, heat is expelled into the tunnel making it hot, she said adding, the new rakes will have wider vestibules for better air circulation in all coaches, as well as AC ducting along the seat for uniform cooling.

The new coaches will also have roof mounted package unit (RMPU) so that there is no water leakage from the roof of the train, which is a frequent complaint of commuters travelling in the existing air—conditioned coaches.

The new rakes from ICF will have primary and secondary suspension with rubber springs to ensure jerk free comfortable rides. The present coaches have metal primary suspension and rubber—made secondary suspension.

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