Metro to connect Delhi and Gurgaon Monday

NEW DELHI - Ending the long wait of commuters for an effective transport system connecting Delhi and its satellite town Gurgaon, the much-awaited Qutub Minar-HUDA City Centre corridor of the Delhi Metro will open to public Monday, an official said Sunday.

Commuters will be able to reach Gurgaon, in neighbouring Haryana, within 27 minutes through the 14.47 km stretch.

The train services will commence simultaneously from Delhi’s Qutub Minar and HUDA City Centre in Gurgaon without a formal inaugural function at 8 a.m. Monday.

“A formal inauguration function will be organised when the Qutub Minar-Central Secretariat corridor will be inaugurated in July,” a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesperson said.

Initially, five trains would ply on the stretch 6 a.m.-11 p.m. with a frequency of approximately 12 minutes. A standby train is kept for emergency use.

The frequency will be increased with increase in footfall.

The minimum fare for the route is Rs.8 and the maximum is Rs.30.

“Launch of the Metro services is likely to help many commuters. The commuters of the Millennium City have been waiting for it for months. By 2011 we expect a footfall of 1.6 lakh every day,” the official said.

The corridor is fully elevated and consists of 10 Metro stations — Qutub Minar, Chhattarpur, Sultanpur, Ghitorni, Arjangarh, Guru Dronacharya, Sikanderpur, M.G. Road, IFFCO Chowk and HUDA City Centre. Nine stations would be operational from Monday.

“The Metro will bypass the Chhattarpur station as the work is incomplete there. The station is likely to be operational by August,” the official said.

Out of the 10 stations, only six have parking facility. Parking contracts for Ghitorni, Arjangarh and Sikanderpur have not been finalised and the facility is under construction at the Chhattarpur station.

To facilitate passengers, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) is planning to run connecting bus services from Qutub Minar Metro station to Central Secretariat Metro station 6.15 a.m.-11.45 p.m.

A total of 67 automatic fare collection (AFC) gates are provided in the stretch comprising 27 entry, 31 exit and 9 disabled-friendly gates.

To provide easy access to the commuters, 25 lifts and 31 escalators have been installed in the nine Metro Stations to be opened on the corridor.

With the Delhi-Gurgaon line coming into service, the Delhi Metro will cover a total stretch of 125 km with 107 stations.