PM Modi flags off India's first driverless train on Delhi Metro's Magenta Line

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the country's first ever driverless train on the Magenta Line of Delhi Metro along with the fully operational National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) service on Airport Express Line virtually.

These trains will be completely automatic, thus, eliminating the possibility of human error. Following the unveiling of driverless train on the Magenta line (Janakpuri West-Botanical Garden), the Pink (Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar) line is expected to become driverless by mid-2021. Initially, drivers would be deputed for operating the trains then they would gradually be withdrawn to move to Unattended Train Operations (UTO). The driverless train will comprise six coaches packed with advanced features.

During the launch of the driverless trains, PM Modi said, "First metro in the country was started with the efforts of Atal Ji. When our government was formed in 2014, only 5 cities had metro services and today 18 cities have metro rail service. By 2025, we will take this service to more than 25 cities." He further added, "Make in India is very important for the expansion of metro services. It reduces cost, saves foreign currency and provides more employment to Indian people."

PM Modi also launched the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) services on the Airport Express Line on Monday. Named 'One Nation One Card', the inter-operable transport card will allow users to pay for bus travels, toll taxes, parking charges, retail shopping and even withdraw money besides utilizing metro services across India.

Also read: PM Modi to inaugurate driverless train, National Common Mobility Card today