17 October,2011 08:03 AM IST | | MiD DAY Correspondent
Diwali being round the corner, here is good news for those commuting via Airport Express Metro as they are going to get some relief during the chaotic peak hours during the festive season. In order to cater to the rising footfall of people at peak hours, the high-speed Airport Express Metro will now run every 12 minutes for three hours in the morning and evening, beginning Monday.
The Delhi Airport Metro Express (DAME) trains would now ferry commuters at an interval of 12 minutes between 8-11am in the morning and 5-8 pm in the evening. During non-peak hours, the trains would maintain the usual time of running every 15 minutes.
Less waiting time
"Based on our internal study and keeping the comfort of airport-bound passengers and office-goers in mind, we increased the train frequency to every 12 minutes during morning and evening peak hours," said Anil P Gupta, president, Reliance Infrastructure, which operates the line.
"Some of our recent commuter-centric initiatives, like opening of Dhaula Kuan and Aerocity stations, increase in train frequency and opening of passenger check-in facilities, have increased the ridership along the line and we need to cater to their convenience," he added.
In addition to the four trains already operating in this line, one more train has been deployed, creating a 25 per cent additional passenger carrying capacity during peak hours. "Three more trains would be kept on standby for convenience of commuters and, if required, would be deployed anytime. Beginning with a footfall of 4,000, the number of commuters using the line has skyrocketed to 18,000 since it became operational," said the official spokesperson, DMRC.
Need for speed
The Delhi Airport Metro Express (DAME) is a Delhi Metro line from New Delhi Metro Station to Dwarka Sector 21, linking it to the Indira Gandhi International Airport. The line, also known as the Orange line, is operated by the Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt. Limited (DAMEL), a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure. It was started on February 23 this year.
The line is 22.7 km long, of which 15.7 km of the route is underground and 7 km is elevated from Buddha Jayanti Park and Mahipalpur. Running on a higher than the usual speed of trains on other lines, travel time of trains on this route is 18 minutes from New Delhi to the airport, helping a great deal for passengers to reach the airport
on time.
