Even with wind speed during Cyclone Amphan reaching 133 kmph around Dum Dum, Metro Railway ensured that none of its rakes parked at the Noapara car shed suffered any damage, by deploying proactive precautionary measures.
According to officials, a storm like the one witnessed by the city on May 20 could have easily pushed the rakes from the tracks, causing derailment and severe damage. Nearly all components of Metro coaches are located underneath and any damage to the vital ones could have rendered the rakes unusable when instructions arrived from the ministry of Railways to resume services.
Unlike the East-West corridor that has more than sufficient rakes to operate the truncated services introduced recently, the North-South stretch has just about sufficient rolling stock for daily operations. Any damage to a single rake could have been catastrophic.
“But nearly all the rolling stocks of Metro Railway are parked at the Noapara car shed. We anticipated the chaos that cyclone Amphan could cause and took special measures. Special wedges were used to keep the wheels of the rakes firmly attached to the tracks. Pit lines were also used to prevent any waterlogging and damage to the motors. In this way, not a single rake suffered any damage and we continue to remain on standby, awaiting central orders to resume operations,” said Metro Railway CPRO Indrani Banerjee.
A few stations along the East-West Metro corridor, however, suffered the rage of the cyclone, added Banerjee. Out of the 24 platform screen doors installed, six were smashed as the cyclone winds passed through the elevated stations. Efforts are now on to procure replacements for these doors.