BENGALURU: The honour of steering the maiden train went to S Shafeeq Ahmed, Senior Supervisor at Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), which has supplied new coaches for Bengaluru Metro's Phase-II. The Loco-pilot billed his ride as “awesome” and “a Deepavali gift to India’s Silicon Valley.”
BEML staffers Anand Kumar and P Jagadeesan accompanied him in the loco cabin but the 7-km steering of the train from Whitefield depot to Pattandur Agrahara (ITPL) and back was done only by Ahmed. He chose to honk throughout the trip adding a kind of musical zing as the train zipped by.
Ahmed told The New Indian Express, “The first drive was a very good experience. I honked non-stop both during the onward and return trip as it is a new track and we do not know what to expect. I just wanted to alert everyone to stay off track and be safe,” he said.
The supervisor joined BEML in 2007 and has been working in its Metro department since 2014 and takes care of testing and commissioning. “A team of six including myself were trained very well by BMRCL to operate the train. I have also driven trains for the Mumbai Metro on behalf of BEML. This is the first time that I am getting an opportunity to steer the maiden run of a train and it felt really good,” he added.
Stressing that he had no anxieties pertaining to the launch, the LP said that he was awake till 1 am on Friday re-checking the tracks. “The Third Rail which will power the trains was made operational by us at 8 am today. It was non-stop work prior to the launch including sleepless nights. I also went on foot patrol along the length of tracks just to be doubly sure everything was fine,” Ahmed said.