Metro set to enter new phase

City government asks DMRC to cover more areas in third stage of expansion

City government asks DMRC to cover more areas in third stage of expansion

The Metro is breaking new grounds every day and the Delhi government wants to ensure that the trend continues. The city administration has now asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to cover more areas under third phase of its augmentation. Work is expected to begin later this year, after the Commonwealth Games are over.

Representative photo

Sources said that the DMRC had proposed construction of six routes covering 69.57 km but the Delhi Cabinet at a meeting presided by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has asked Delhi Metro to consider covering more area and extending the route length to 108.35 km.

The three routes - from Central Secretariat to Red Fort (6.8 km), Rajouri Garden to Mukundpur (12.4 km) and Jahangirpuri to Badali (3.4 km) - were cleared as proposed by DMRC.

However, the Delhi Cabinet has suggested some amendments in the other three routes, which would cover Outer and Inner Ring Road, asking DMRC to increase the coverage area.

The routes which the Metro has been asked to rework are Anand Vihar to Dhaula Kuan to be extended till Rajouri Garden, Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar via Jamia Nagar, Pitampura, Badli and a few other stations to Noida (44.85 km) and Ashok Park to Delhi Gate.

During the second phase, the DMRC has made its foray into the neighbouring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh with its Jahangirpuri-Central Secretariat-Huda City Centre line and the Dwarka-Noida line.The Metro runs a fleet of 129 trains on a network of 138 km that has 117 stations. The average daily ridership on weekdays after the opening of the Jahangirpuri-Huda City Centre (Gurgaon) has crossed 15 lakh.

The Metro's Airport Express line, likely to be inaugurated by October-end, is the last remaining project in the second phase.

Games On Track

DMRC will also deploy more than 150 additional personnel comprising Customer Facilitation Agents, guards and volunteers at the Central Secretariat, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Jangpura Metro stations to guide the commuters during the closing ceremony of CWG.
Delhi Metro spokesperson Anuj Dayal said that additional signages will be put up at both Jangpura and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Metro stations where details about the nearby gates of the stadium will be mentioned.
While the Jangpura station is near gate numbers 6, 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the Stadium, gate numbers 13, 14 and 15 are close to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Metro station. "Repeated announcements will be made at Jangpura and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Metro stations about the nearby gate numbers of the JLN Stadium. Metro trains will run at a frequency of 2 minutes and 40 seconds. If needed, additional trains will also be run after the stipulated revenue hours to manage the crowd," said, Dayal.
u00a0A team of senior officers headed by DMRC's Director (Operations) Raj Kumar will monitor the movement of trains from the Operational Control Centre of the Delhi Metro at Metro Bhawan.
Approximately 38,000 people had used the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Metro station (25,000) and the Jangpura Metro station (13,000) to reach the JLN Stadium for the opening
ceremony.