New Delhi, Nov 26 (IANS) Efforts are being made to meet the shortage of Metro trains by inducting Indian-made rakes to augment those that have been imported, Delhi Metro chief E. Sreedharan has said.
Admitting to a serious shortage of trains, Sreedharan said: “Earlier on, Metro trains were being imported. Recently, manufacturing facilities have been provided within the country. The trains manufactured in these units have already started arriving and these will be inducted into the system as and when they are received.”

The response came on a letter from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader V.K. Malhotra on the deficiences in Delhi Metro services as the system expands.

“DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation) has also placed orders for more trains. When new coaches are received, our plan is to increase the number of coaches (per train) from four to six on some lines, reduce the time interval between trains and also to increase the total number of trains on the system as suggested by you (Malhotra),” Sreedharan said.

He further said: “With more lines getting commissioned, there will still be a shortage of trains, which we are planning to meet by judicious planning of services.”

“It is only natural that more commuters will opt for Delhi Metro in view of the safe, comfortable and fast services being provided. There have been some technical glitches in operations recently… these are being looked into and remedial action is being taken,” Sreedharan pointed out.

In his letter last week, Malhotra had said: “The growing numbers of passengers in the Delhi Metro has made the experience of riding on them worse than (that on) Blueline buses.”