'One Metro line every month'

Says DMRC chief E Sreedharan; promising technical glitches in trains will be taken care of as well

Says DMRC chief E Sreedharan; promising technical glitches in trains will be taken care of as well

Even as Delhi Metro Rail Managing Director E Shreedharan announced the opening of at least one Metro line every month till September this year, he couldn't ignore the issue of technical glitches in the new Metro coaches.u00a0

Smooth run: Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit flagging-off the first Metro train on the Yamuna Bank-Anand Vihar line at Yamuna Bank Metro Station in New Delhi on Wednesday. Pic/Imtiyaz Khan

"An 80-member Bombardier team is in Delhi to deal with the technical glitches of the train. The technical problems are being taken care of," said Sreedharan, on the sidelines of the launch of the Yamuna Bank-Anand Vihar line on Wednesday.

He also said the Inderlok-Mundka line will be opened by February and the Gurgaon link in May.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit too did not forget to mention the issue. Dikshit, who flagged off the first train on the Anand Vihar route along with Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy, said, "DMRC is looking into the technical glitches in trains and will take necessary steps."

Meanwhile, the Yamuna Bank-Anand Vihar line was ceremonially launched on Wednesday and will be opened for the public from 6 am Thursday.

1,03,450
People is the estimated daily projected traffic for Yamuna Bank-Anand Vihar line in 2011

New trains

E Sreedharan said six-coach trains will be introduced from May on all lines. "We will be introducing six-coach trains from May this year. This will ease the pressure on over-crowded lines. We are getting more and more trains," he said. Metro trains have four coaches each and the DMRC has been planning for a long time to add two more coaches to the trains. "Every 10 days, one train is being added to the network," Sreedharan said.

Confident Reddy

S Jaipal Reddy, speaking on the occasion, said, "The DMRC will open all its lines on Phase-II before the Commonwealth Games in October this year. All projects related to the Games will be completed by September 2010." Nervous Sheila Sheila Dikshit said she was nervous as many Commonwealth Games-related projects are yet to be completed. "But I am confident everything will be fine," she said.u00a0