More coaches, shorter stops make Metro commute faster

Additional coaches help reduce travel time, DMRC says focus on improving customer experience

NEW DELHI: Travel in Delhi Metro has become faster thanks to reduction in door opening time of trains and increase in the number of coaches. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has reduced the waiting time on all its six lines. With the change that was introduced in 2016, passengers at the HUDA City CentreSamaypur Badli line, who had to wait 2.38 minutes for trains during peak hours in 2013-14, now have wait 2.08 minutes.

The Delhi Metro had 220 train sets of four, six and eight coaches totaling to 1,340 coaches in 2015-16. It has now increased its fleet to 1,456 and will increase it further to 1,654 coaches. DMRC plans to run 244 trains, reducing the waiting time further.

DMRC officials said apart from resources, it focuses on improving the overall customer experience by using different means.

“Another thing we have done is that we have instructed the driver to control the door opening and closing manually. Initially, doors used to be open for 30 seconds but it is now controlled manually. If there is not much crowd at a station, doors would be closed in five seconds while at some crowded stations, it could take more than 30 seconds. With this, we have managed to reduce the travel time between two stations,” said a DMRC official.

During the last financial year, the DMRC on an average pressed 1,100 coaches in an hour during peak timings. In 2012-13, the number was only 819, which shows how the demand has increased in the past few years.

“Increasing the speed of trains ensures duration of the journey is short. Efforts have been made to improve the average speed of trains. This has been done by rationalisation of the ‘dwell time’ at stations and reducing the run time between stations. With these efforts, the DMRC was able to raise the average speed of trains on one of the busiest line from 33 kmph to 35 kmph. Improved speed has reduced the travel time,” said a DMRC official.

Metro official said that by adding more coaches and increasing the number of trains, they will be able to reduce the waiting time further. The DMRC will add over 200 coaches in the existing fleet.

As per the survey before Metro construction, the traffic projection for 2016 was 27.30 lakh in a day but DMRC has been handling over 30 lakh passengers per day.