Urban Development Ministry to make statement on airport metro suspension

New Delhi: The Urban Development Ministry will meet with officials of Reliance Infrastructure and the DMRC to try and resolve the issue of the Metro Airport Express which has been shut for the time being due to technical problems and safety risks. The ministry is likely to make a statement on Monday afternoon regarding the airport metro suspension.

Delhi Metro has sought to shift the blame on Airport Express Metro operator Reliance Infra for suspension of its services by suggesting that the situation could have been avoided if the concessionaire had detected defects on time.

However, Reliance Infrastructure maintained that a decision to suspend services on the 23-km high-speed corridor was taken on the issue of safety after receiving expert advice.

The Urban Development Ministry will meet with officials of Reliance Infrastructure, DMRC to try and resolve the issue.

Services on the Airport Metro were suspended from Sunday last after some faults on the civil structure was detected on the corridor. While Delhi Metro has built the civil structure on the Line, the Reliance Infra is responsible for operations and maintenance.

As it appeared that the blame was being shifted to the Delhi Metro, its chief Mangu Singh dashed off a letter to Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath earlier this week apparently blaming the Reliance Infrastructure for the current situation.

In the letter written on July 11, Singh is believed to have blamed Reliance Infra for not detecting the defects in the bearings which are the interface between the pillar and girder.

Asked to react on the development, Reliance Infra spokesman said: "Passenger safety is our primary concern. Thus, in keeping with our corporate philosophy of attaching the highest importance to safety, we have taken this decision, on the basis of expert advice received."

A committee comprising officials from the Indian Railways, Delhi Metro and Reliance Infrastructure is already going into the nature of defects and would submit a report within the next couple of days after which rectification works would be carried out.

With additional information from PTI

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