New Delhi/Gurgaon: A Delhi Metro train
chugged into Gurgaon today, bringing the satellite city a
little closer to the national capital and fulfilling the
desire of millions of its residents for an effective transport
system.
Without much fanfare, the 14.47 km link connecting
Qutub Minar with HUDA City Centre in Gurgaon was thrown open
to the public at 8 AM as revenue services commenced
simultaneously at both stations.
There was no formal inaugural function.
A brand-new broad gauge train, which began its first
journey at 8 AM from Qutub Minar, chugged into HUDA City
Centre station at around 8.30 AM.
With this, Gurgaon has become the second satellite
city to get Metro connectivity after Noida, where it reached
last November.
People of the Millennium City have been waiting for an
effective transport system to travel to and from Delhi and the
launch of Metro services is likely to ease some pressure on
road traffic.
The mood was jubilant at both the stations? where
hundreds of people waited to enjoy the Metro comfort.
Some people said they were waiting at the stations
from 6 AM in the morning to take a ride on the first train
that goes to Gurgaon.
Aaakansha, software professional who works at a
private firm in Gurgaon, said, "Now I will have a comfortable
ride to my office. I don’t have to worry about traffic jam and
other things".
To facilitate easy movement of passengers from Qutub
Minar to Central Delhi, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC)
will run connecting bus services from Qutub Minar Metro
station to Central Secretariat Metro station from 6.15 am to
11.45 pm.
Officials said the details and the frequency are being
worked out and it is likely that the buses will run at a
frequency of 10 minutes.
DMRC will initially put five trains on the corridor
that will connect Gurgaon with south Delhi which will run at a
frequency of 12 minutes, a DMRC spokesman said, adding the
number of trains will be increased gradually.
Passengers can cover the entire 14.47 km distance in
around 27 minutes at a rate of Rs 18, while the minimum ticket
rate is priced at Rs 8.
The DMRC has made special arrangements at all stations
to help the commuters get tokens and other things on the first
day today.
The line has 10 stations. Trains will not stop at the
Chhattarpur Metro station initially as this station is likely
to be opened for the public by August.
The construction work of the Chhattarpur station was
delayed as the land for building of the station was not
available with DMRC till October last year.
The DMRC is now constructing the station in record
time using pre fabricated steel structures.
This section will be integrated with the
under-construction Central Secretariat-Qutub Minar line next
month which will ultimately be added to the existing
Jehangirpuri-Central Secretariat line.
The DMRC will then run 60 trains on the entire stretch
at a frequency of 3 minutes.
Once the entire section (HUDA City Centre-Central
Secretariat) becomes operational, passengers can hope to reach
the millennium city in around an hour from Connaught Place in
the heart of Delhi.
Over 100 Customer Facilitation Agents are likely to be
deployed as a special measure at all the stations to help them
use gates, lifts and escalators and guide them at platforms
and circulating area of the station.
Besides this, special Customer Care Centres will also
be set up at all stations of this line for passenger
convenience.
The mood is already jubilant in the satellite city
with people deciding to commute through metro to reach Delhi.
The remaining part of the corridor from Qutub Minar to
Central Secretariat is expected to be open by the end of July.
Ultimately, the line will be integrated with the
existing Line 2 (Jehangirpuri-Central Secretariat).
The Central Secretariat-HUDA City Centre line, built
at a total cost of Rs 3,720 crore, is expected to add over 3.4
lakh people to the Metro system by 2011.
PTI
