Wait for MMTS phase-II may get longer.

Two of the six sections are ready for commissioning and two sets of train rakes of 12 coaches each have arrived from the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai. Yet, no one can guarantee if the Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) Phase-II, providing rail link to suburbs, will function anytime soon.

Although Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav had stated that the trains would be run this April onwards, senior officials of the South Central Railway (SCR) are not so sure. All the works on the sections like doubling of railway lines and electrification has been completed in sections of Telapur-Ramachandrapuram (5.75 km) and Secunderabad-Bolarum-Medchal (28 km).

When Mr. Yadav was the SCR general manager, he had observed that it was quite possible to begin operations in sections where works were completed, by making use of the existing railway rolling stock. However, senior officials, not wishing to be identified, had indicated that it will be a tough task.

While these two trains are currently undergoing trial run, senior officials insist and point out that the existing rakes are just about enough to run phase I services. “We need five more rakes and unless we pay an advance to the ICF, it will not begin to manufacture them,” they affirm.

THE HINDU