Did DMRC compromise on airport metro line safety?

New Delhi: The government-run Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) has filed a report that exposes how the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and Reliance Infra overlooked serious technical problems in the India’s first airport metro service.

The RDSO's report accessed by IBN 7 shows how the airport metro ran on broken clips for eight months. The report says 11,000 clips found broken on the IGI airport-Shivaji Stadium track.

The RDSO says the DMRC did not reply despite reminders.

The RDSO\'s report accessed by IBN 7 shows how the airport metro ran on broken clips for eight months.

The question arises - Did the operators run the service even after knowing that that there was a serious flaw and high risk of accidents and thereby putting thousands of lives at risk?

Documents available with IBN Network suggest they did.

Report by the a government body that does safety checks on railway tracks - RDSO - reveals some startling facts.

The serious safety flaw was discovered during a surprise inspection by railway ministry officials. The clips were supplied by a German company Vossloh.

The official safety report with says, "Reliance Infra officials accepted that these clips reportedly showed faults and were changed frequently. The entire length is at risk. These clips started breaking a year after airport express line was started."

Railway sources are critical of DMRC's callous attitude towards safety. They say despite repeated reminders all they did was decrease the trains speed.

Anil Ambani owned Reliance Infra, the company that built this line also blames DMRC in a written reply to IBN Network’s queries. "They were compelled to use Vossloh clips because Vossloh is the only company approved for buying clips by the Delhi Metro Rail corp," they said.

The DMRC in its defence says, "Reliance infra was never forced to deal with Vossloh. Reliance Infra could not do its research work for buying clips. And that maintenance is in the hands of Reliance Infra."

German based Vossloh refused to comment on this issue.

The blame game between the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and Reliance infra continues. But passengers who have used the line must be provided answers. Will criminal charges be brought on careless operators who compromised on the safety of India's first airport metro service.

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