23 additional metro trains to run during trade fair
By IANSWednesday, November 17, 2010
NEW DELHI - The Delhi Metro will run 23 additional trains to manage the heavy crowd visiting Pragati Maidan during the India International Trade Fair (IITF), officials said Wednesday.
The Delhi Metro will run trains with peak hour frequency from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Nov 19-27, when the trade fair will be open to common people. It is open to business delegates from Nov 14-18.
“An additional 23 trains, which are normally withdrawn during off peak hours, will be put into service and will perform over 100 extra train trips every day during the fair,” said a Delhi Metro official.
A total of 43 manual token counters with separate counters for specific token denominations and destinations will be put up at the Pragati Maidan Metro station on all working days.
During weekends and holidays, the number of these counters will go up to 52. To avoid overcrowding, all tokens will be sold from the ground floor only.
Additional Customer Facilitation Agents (CFAs) also may be deployed at stations like Central Secretariat, Rajiv Chowk and Kashmere Gate for guiding and managing the crowd in the ticketing area.
Extra security guards are planned to be provided at platforms, AFC gates, escalators, lifts and token counters at Pragati Maidan on weekends. For every token counter, there will be one security guard to streamline and control the crowd.
“Permanent toilets have been constructed near Gate no.3 of Pragati Maidan Metro Station. Around 20 temporary kiosks to provide drinking water and snacks to the visitors will also come up,” he said.
Meanwhile, the sale of tickets for the trade fair at the Metro stations has already picked up. While 1,387 IITF business visitor tickets were sold from the Metro stations Monday, another 1,110 business tickets were sold Sunday.
To ensure faster security clearance of the commuters, additional door frame metal detectors and extra X-Ray machines will be installed.
The average footfall (entry/exit) of Pragati Maidan Metro station during IITF 2009 was approximately one lakh passengers per day.
