Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) announced today the Union Ministry of Railways' Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO) has granted it a "speed certificate", which takes the much delayed project a step closer towards being operationalised.
"We have duly received the RDSO speed certificate today. Our officials will now approach the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) shortly for final a safety certificate, before commissioning the line and opening it for commuters," a company spokesperson said.
The RDSO is a statutory technical body, which certifies rail system for safety based on international standards.
Maharashtra Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and the operator Reliance Infrastructure had said earlier that metro services would be thrown open to the public by March end.
MMOPL is a joint venture between Reliance Infrastructure, French firm Veolia Transport and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
While the Anil Ambani-led execution agency Reliance Infrastructure owns a 69 per cent stake in the project, the state-run MMRDA and Veolia hold 26 per cent and 5 per cent stakes, respectively.
After carrying out the oscillation and emergency braking distance trials which were monitored by the RDSO, the MMOPL plans to undertake proper trial runs on the entire first phase of the 11.4-km long Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar section of the Mumbai Metro.
