Metro authorities assert that the issue will be rectified in a month, despite the difficulties commuters are already experiencing.
PUNE: For a while now, Pune’s metro services have experienced recurrent technical and power outages. Metro services have to be interrupted three times in the last two weeks alone due to this. Metro officials assert that the issue will be rectified in a month, notwithstanding the difficulties commuters are already experiencing.
Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha Metro) managing director Shravan Hardikar stated, “We need three receiving sub-stations to balance the load and give continuous power to the Pune metro. Two of the three receiving sub-stations—the one at Ganeshkhind and the one operated by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC)—have had their construction finished. In one to three months, Vanaz will have the third one finished.
“Automatic load switching is something we’re working on. Right now, we manually switch loads. There won’t be any inconvenience once the automatic switchover load system is finished and put in place in a month, according to Hardikar.
Friday’s power outage caused the metro service between Vanaz and Ruby Hall Clinic to stop running around 10.30 am, which inconvenienced commuters. As the metro sat still for 25 minutes, passengers were perplexed. At 10.52 am, the services were finally resumed. The commuters were not given any official information about the technological problem that caused the unexpected closure. Prior to that, on Wednesday, there was a reported technical issue, causing passengers to swarm the metro doors only to discover that they were unresponsive. Without its doors opening, the metro resumed its voyage after a significant delay. A bird is said to have struck an overhead cable earlier on Tuesday, causing a roughly 30-minute interruption in metro service on the Ruby Hall to Vanaz route at the Nal Stop metro station.
On the other hand, the Maha Metro’s website claims that as of October 17, 2022, the metro’s 33.2 km of route’s power supply work has been finished, and the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has taken power from three grids to ensure continuous supply. For the receiving sub-station in Pimpri-Chinchwad, the power supply has been taken from the Chinchwad grid; for the receiving sub-station in Range Hill, from the Ganeshkhind grid; and for the receiving sub-station in Vanaz, from the Parvati grid. To do this, five to six km long 133kV power cables have been installed using the most recent technology, ensuring that metro services can still be provided even in the event of a technical failure in one grid. On August 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially opened the expanded metro service between Vanaz and Ruby Hall Clinic and Pimpri-Chinchwad to Civil Court. However, there have been at least four metro service suspensions in the last three months.
Source- Hindustan times
