Magenta Line opens, there’s plenty for commuters to rejoice
NEWDELHI: From 6 am on Tuesday, when the station gates on Janakpuri West-kalkaji Mandir section of the Magenta Line were thrown open to the public, commuters started flocking in, enquiring routes and making their way to platforms to catch the trains.
Anit Bhattacharya, a mechanical engineer, who travels from CR Park to his workplace in Noida, said that he had been looking forward to the opening of the 24.8 km section of the line.
“I drive to work every day because it is difficult to catch an auto-rickshaw from where I live and taking an Uber or Ola during the rush hour is not feasible. It takes me 40 minutes to reach,” said Bhattacharya, who was spot- ted waiting for the train at the Greater Kailash station.
As per estimates of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, commute from the residential pockets around south Delhi’s GK, Chirag Dilli and Nehru Enclave to Botanical Garden in Noida will not take more than 20 minutes using the line.
The Janakpuri West-kalkaji Mandir section of the line was inaugurated on Monday by Union minister of housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. The remaining 12.6kmstretch of the entire 37.4km corridor is already operational.
The peak hour rush on the line remained high but even during the non-peak hours, the commuters were seen taking a leisure ride in swanky new trains.
Susan Massie, a government employee working at Ber Sarai, was seen with her colleagues at the RK Puram station. She said they had stepped out during lunch hours to take a Metro ride.
“Taking the Metro on the opening day is a different feeling altogether. We travelled till Kalkaji Mandir and back. The two-way ride only took half hour,” she said.
Many commuters were also seen spotting the special features on the line. For example, in Janakpuri West, commuters were seen asking Metro officials about the steepest escalators. At 15.65 m, it is the steepest escalator in the country.
“I did not know that this was the steepest escalator in the country. But when I read the board, I felt a little dizzy while I was on it,” said Munmun Deshpandey, a resident of Janakpuri D Block.
At the Hauz Khas Metro station, which has now become the deepest Metro station of the network beating Chawri Bazar, several commuters were seen trying to figure out the connection between the Yellow Line (Huda City Centre-samaypur Badli) and the Magenta Line.
“It will take a little time to get used to the new station,” said Muneesh Pandey, who works in Gurugram.
While there was plenty to rejoice about for the commuters, some complained that there were minor delays in the closing of train gates at few stations.
Metro officials said that these delays were caused due to newlyinstalled platform screen doors (PSDS). Trains can only move once it receives a confirmation that the PSDS are closed. The DMRC said that the system will stabilise in the coming days.
After the Magenta Line, the Mundka-bahadurgarh extension of the Green Line and the Shiv Vihar-durgabai Deshmukh portion of the Pink Line are awaiting safety clearance.