The Delhi Metro on Wednesday completed 23 years of operations as the service started on this day in 2002. The first train – TS#01 – to operate on the Delhi Metro network, continues to be a part of the active
fleet, carrying lakhs of commuters daily.
The train has undergone multiple upgrades in keeping with the standards followed worldwide. Initially, TS#01 was of four cars but to cater to the requirement of increased passenger demand, the number of coaches were increased to six in 2014 and then to eight in 2023.
“Delhi Metro’s first ever train has been in revenue service since 2002 and has run over approximately 2.9 million kilometres and has carried over 60 million passengers safely with a mammoth 2.4 million door operations,” an official statement announced.
Till December 2024, the train had carried over 5.4 crore passengers, a figure that has since crossed 6 crore by this year.
The first train of the Delhi Metro operated on the Red Line between Shahdara and Tis Hazari on just 8 km route was inaugurated by former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee in presence of then Delhi Chief Minister late Sheila Dikshit.
Anuj Dayal, Principal Executive Director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, said that the TS#01 was manufactured by MRM Consortium, South Korea and was then transferred to Kolkata in India by ship.
From Kolkata, it was transferred to Delhi using the Indian railway network. The initial cost of the four-coach train was approximately Rs 24 crore.
The advanced design of the propulsion system of the train has helped in reducing the carbon footprint by regenerating as much as 40 percent (approx) of the total power consumed through regenerative braking.
“So far TS#01 has been under two major overhauls by DMRC’s maintenance team. Because of timely interventions and maintenance overhauls, TS#01 has been able to maintain MDBF (Train kms per reliability failure) of 85,000 kilometres over the minimum contractual requirement of 40,000 kilometres,” the statement added.
In 2024, the TS#01 went through mid-life rehabilitation with the latest IP-Based Passenger announcement and passenger information system that included CCTV, Integrated Passenger Emergency Alarms and LCD Based Dynamic Route Map & Public information boards. Doors of this train were also refurbished to improve the reliability of the door system.
“Today, when the Delhi Metro is proudly completing 23 years of operations, TS#01 continues its glorious journey of providing safe, reliable and comfortable travel to the commuters,” the DMRC added.
Today, as the Delhi metro network has expanded to over 352 km and 257 stations across ten lines, including the Airport Line, TS#01 remains a working symbol of Delhi Metro’s engineering discipline and maintenance-driven longevity.
