New Delhi: If you are a Smart Card user,
you can now save time while entering or exiting a Metro
station.
The DMRC has installed special steel framed gates near
the Automatic Fare Collection gates at select Metro stations
only for Smart Card users.
Around 55 per cent of Metro users in national capital
have Smart Cards.
DMRC took the decision to introduce special gates for
Smart Card holders after the users felt that they were getting
unnecessarily delayed at the entry and exit points because the
token users taking more time.
Most of the first-time users or people who are not
familiar with the system take more time to exit or enter from
the station. Sometime, they get stuck at the entry or exit
points not knowing how to use it. This delays the people in
the queue.
The first such seven feet-long steel framed gate has
already been installed at the Barkahmaba Road Metro station on
trial basis for the faster exit of Smart Card users.
"The token users will be able to use the remaining gates
for exiting from the system," DMRC spokesman Anuj Dayal said,
adding two more such gates are planned at the Rajiv Chowk
station.
He said the new system may also be installed at other
stations and traffic movement of stations is being closely
studied to decide whether such gates are needed there.
"If at a Metro station, more than 60 per cent of the
commuters are Smart Card users, then this option can be
explored," he said.
This step is also expected to encourage the commuters
further to go for Smart Cards as their use will ensure
smoother entry and exit from the Metro system.
Dayal said DMRC encourages its commuters to use the
Smart Cards, as the users get a 10 per cent discount on the
fares and also avoid the long queues at the token counters.
There is no risk of paying any penalty for travelling
beyond the authorised distance either as is the case with
tokens.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, May 05, 2010, 21:15