Delhi Metro airport line set to commence
By IANSWednesday, February 23, 2011
NEW DELHI - Delhi Metro will commence its airport line service Wednesday for passenger movement from the New Delhi railway station to the international airport - a journey that will be covered in 20 minutes.
The service, built under Delhi Metro’s first public-private partnership project, will also make available flight information on LCD screens inside the train coaches to passengers.
“The 23-km airport express line is all set for commercial operations from Wednesday at 2 p.m.,” a Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt Ltd (DAMEPL) official said.
Initially, five to six trains will ply on the route every day, and the train frequency will be 20 minutes.
“As the footfall increases, the frequency of the train will increase,” the official added.
According to DAMEPL, the Metro fare ranges between Rs.20 and Rs.100.
The travel from New Delhi Railway Station to the airport will cost Rs.80 and from the railway station to Dwarka Sector 21 Rs.100.
The Metro link missed three deadlines — Oct 3, Oct 31 and Dec 31 — set by Delhi Metro and the urban development ministry. The trains will run at 105 km per hour.
Built at a cost of about Rs.5,700 crore, the line has six stations — New Delhi Railway Station, Shivaji Stadium, Dhaula Kuan, Delhi Aero City, Indira Gandhi International Airport and Dwarka Sector 21.
But the Dhaula Kuan and Delhi Aero city stations are not ready yet.
Each coach has LCD screens showing flight information for the convenience of travellers while half the compartment of every six-coach train is reserved for luggage.
Delhi Metro is responsible for the civil work and Reliance Infrastructure will operate the line for 30 years and share the revenues.
