On Monday, India’s first driverless train was started on Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line. The Delhi Metro train driven by next-generation technology ran from Janakpuri West metro station to Botanical Garden metro station of the 37-km long Magenta Line. While flagging off the nation’s first driverless train operations on Delhi Metro, PM Modi said his government has taken growing urbanisation as an opportunity and further asserted that metro train services will be extended to as many as 25 cities across the country from the current 18 cities by the year 2025, according to a PTI report. With the introduction of these new-generation driverless trains, the Delhi Metro network has entered the select league of 7% of the world’s metro networks which can run without drivers.
Among the first riders on the driverless train was 3-year old Aarav who sounded very excited, as his father told him that no driver was piloting the metro train. The little boy was quoted in the report saying that the train is being driven by remote control. The newly launched driverless train is centrally controlled from the Operations Control Centre (OCC). Initially, a roaming attendant will be present but the move would be gradually withdrawn to shift to Unattended Train Operation (UTO) mode. While most of the commuters travelling on the Magenta Line knew about this new driverless train, many people who took the metro train from various metro stations were actually oblivious to the fact that it was a driverless train.
Delhi University students, Riya Sharma (18) and Gurpreet Kaur (17) were also excited about their metro ride. Kaur was quoted saying that they are proud as it is not just Delhi Metro’s first driverless train but the first such train of India. She further stated that she did not feel much of a difference, from a regular metro train. Sharma was quoted in the report saying that it was her first metro journey since the Delhi Metro services were suspended due to COVID-19-induced lockdown.
According to PM Modi, the launch of the driverless train on Magenta Line and the start of the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) facility on the Airport Express Line (also inaugurated by him) are an attempt to make urban development future-ready.