Gurgaon-Delhi Metro service starts
By IANSMonday, June 21, 2010
GURGAON - The Metro rail service on the 14.47 km Gurgaon-New Delhi route started Monday morning, ending the long wait of commuters for an effective transport system connecting this satellite town with the national capital.
The first Metro trains began running simultaneously from the HUDA City Centre in Gurgaon and the Qutub Minar in south Delhi at 8 a.m. The line will be extended in a month to Central Secretariat and Jehangirpuri in north Delhi.
“We have been craving for good public transport for long. There have been several announcements of starting a bus service and construction of the Metro was also going on simultaneously. The inauguration came as a respite and we are hopeful that the line will be connected to other lines of DMRC soon,” said Sukanya, a resident of Heritage city of Gurgaon.
Staff of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and some passengers were seen on the on the first few trains but the crowds started gathering by 11 a.m.
“It is a historic moment and I don’t want to miss the chance to be a part of it. It is going right in front of my village and I bought a ticket (token) to board the train,” said 60-year-old Jauhar Singh.
As of now, the entire 14.47 km section is not ready and trains will not initially stop at the Chhattarpur station, which is likely to be opened to the public by August.
“The construction work on the station was delayed as the land for building the station was made available only in October last year,” said a DMRC spokesperson.
The trains will run at a frequency of 12 minutes on this corridor from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
“Five trains have been pressed into service initially and their number will be increased gradually. On June 11, the corridor had received the statutory safety clearance from the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) after he inspected the entire stretch,” the spokesperson added.
The 10 stations on this elevated section are HUDA City Centre, IFFCO Chowk, MG Road, Sikanderpur, Guru Dronacharya, Arjangarh, Ghitorni, Sultanpur, Chhattarpur and Qutub Minar.
