Mumbai: The financial capital's metro line was shut for over seven hours today to carry out safety checks for a proposed increase in speeds at which the trains ply. "The statutory checks have been conducted and the report from CMRS (Commissioner for Metros Rail Safety) is awaited," a spokesperson for Mumbai Metro One (MMOPL) said.
The MMOPL is proposing to increase the maximum speed of the metro trains to 80 kmph from the present 50 kmph. The 11.4-km Versova-Ghatkopar line, the maiden metro service in the city, has been running for over a year now.
The services on the metro were shut between 0830 hours and 1600 hours today and various trial runs to check the line's preparedness for higher speed were carried out. "The checks were conducted following the completion of a year in services of the metro line", he said.
"We regret inconveniences to the commuters due to the statutory requirements, which are intended for better commuter services," the MMOPL had said ahead of the shut down. This is the first time that services on the line, which has a reported daily ridership of 2.77 lakh people, have been shut.
Mumbaikars are used to special service blocks on the local train services on weekends, where the railways carry out repair and maintenance work on the lines.
