Only the best will do for Metro

Candidates from all over India have been given preference over locals for the city's most ambitious transport project

With crew members like station controllers and loco pilots almost through with training in New Delhi, the Bangalore Metro is all set to take off soon. The crew will return to Bangalore on November 15, and the trial run for the city's new lifeline is slated to begin in December. While hiring the staff for Metro, officials carefully selected candidates from all over India based upon their experience. This, they say, is not to discourage locals, but the focus at the moment is on getting the best staff.


Class apart: About 140 candidates have been recruited for training as
station controllers and loco pilots. File pic

A total of 140 candidates have been recruited for training as station controllers and loco pilots. Of them, 110 have cleared the final selection. The selected candidates have been training with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (DMRCL). Once they return, the trial run will start in December. The crew has been training in two batches, and includes women as well.

The crew has been training from the last four months in several categories. A total 371 employees are needed for the BMRCL, including engineers, mechanics and station superintendents as station crew. Pilots, engineers and mechanics are needed in trains.u00a0u00a0
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The construction work on the first elevated section (Reach-1) from Baiyappanahalli to Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium (7 km.) is expected to be commissioned by December 2010.u00a0u00a0 There are six stations including Baiyappanahalli in the first phase.

Experienced hands
However administration has selected experienced and good crew leaving local interests. The state people are less in crew. Most of the hired crew is out of state.

Yashwant Chavan, PRO, BMRCL, "We want to ensure excellent and reliable service to the commuters, and hence, have selected experienced candidates."