The much-awaited Kalkaji Mandir-Janakpuri West stretch of Delhi Metro's Magenta Line has was on Monday inaugurated by MoS (Independent Charge) Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
"Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri flag off Magenta Line of Delhi Metro in Janakpuri," news agency ANI reported.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Kejriwal said the Delhi government would also take a decision soon on the delayed Phase IV project of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
The 24.82-km-long new section is the longest stretch under the Phase III project of DMRC and will bring domestic terminal of the city airport on the DMRC network. To the great relief of the commuters, it will cut travel time between Noida and Gurgaon by at least 30 minutes.
After the inauguration, the dignitaries travelled in a train to the Hauz Khas metro station. The much-anticipated section, which has 16 stations - 14 underground, two elevated, will be thrown open to public from May 29, 6:00 pm onwards. The passenger services will begin from Kalkaji Mandir and Janakpuri West stations simultaneously.
With the opening of this section, the total operational span of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) network has reached to 277 km, according to DMRC officials.
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At 29 metres, the five-level new Hauz Khas station is the deepest metro station in the entire network and an engineering landmark as its tunnel goes beneath that of the existing station on Yellow Line.
Hauz Khas (with Yellow Line) and Janakpuri West (with Blue Line) stations are the interchange facilities on this corridor, besides the existing Kalkaji Mandir station (with Violet Line).
With the opening of this stretch, the entire Janakpuri West-Botanical Garden Magenta Line corridor, covering the city's arterial Outer Ring Road, has become operational.
"After the inauguration of this vital link, the approximate time to commute between Huda City Centre (end of Yellow Line on Gurgaon side) and Botanical Garden (on Blue Line in Noida) stations will be about 50 minutes," a DMRC official said. Currently, it takes about half and hour to travel from Huda City Centre to Botanical Garden metro station.
The corridor will operate with 24 trains which will gradually increase to 26 apart from the operating reserves.
The frequency will be 5 minutes and 15 seconds during peak hours through the whole section and if passenger traffic demands shorter intermediate loops with higher frequency will be introduced after studying the traffic pattern.
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Being touted as a 'Knowledge Corridor', the Kalkaji Mandir-Janakpuri West section will also provide metro connectivity to four major universities of the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR).
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) are the institutions which will get metro connectivity with the opening of the new corridor.
The Jamia Milia Islamia University in south Delhi and the Amity University in Noida have already got metro connectivity with the inauguration of the Botanical Garden-Kalkaji Mandir section by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 25, 2017.
(With inputs from agencies)
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