Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off India's first-ever fully-automated driverless train on December 28. The new train service will be available on the Magenta Line of Delhi Metro, the DMRC said.
The 37-km Magenta Line connects Janakpuri West and Botanical Garden metro stations.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be flagging off the country's first-ever fully-automated driverless train service on the 37 km-Magenta Line (Janakpuri West to Botanical Garden) and will also be launching the fully operational National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) for travel on the 23-km Airport Express Line (New Delhi to Dwarka Sector 21) on December 28, 2020," the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said in a statement.
The DMRC had been conducting various trials for its new "driverless trains" for last three years.
Full signalling trials of the driverless trains started along a 20-km-long stretch on the Pink Line in September 2017. The purpose of the trials was to test the automation of the new metro trains.
The driverless trains are equipped with Unattended Train Operations (UTO) and CBTC (Communication Based Train Control) signalling systems, which will significantly improve the frequency.
They are also equipped with better regeneration of energy during braking, energy-efficient subsystems like LED lighting and other regular features of metro trains like air conditioning.
The trains are designed for a maximum speed of 95 kmph and operational speed of 85 kmph.
The driverless trains will have six coaches. Each coach can accommodate a maximum of 380 passengers, which translates to 2,280 passengers in each train.
As the driver's cabin will also be available to commuters, it can accomodate additional 40 people.