Delhi Metro’s Pink Line to open for public from Aug 6

NEW DELHI: Around 8-km long South Campus-lajpat Nagar section of the Delhi Metro's Pink Line, billed as a "corridor for shoppers", is all set to be inaugurated on 6 August, DMRC officials said. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri are slated to jointly inaugurate it on August 6.

“They will formally open the section around 11:30 am using a remote control at the Metro Bhawan. Passenger services will begin the same day from 1 pm,” a senior DMRC official said.

The 8.10-km long Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus-lajpat Nagar section has six stations, including interchange facilities at INA (with Yellow Line) and Lajpat Nagar (Violet Line). Four major markets— Sarojini Nagar, INA, South Extension and Lajpat Nagar (Central Market)—will be connected on one stretch of the network that will also cut travel time for commuters by up to 20 minutes.

“This new section would also shrink travel time for commuters by up to 20 minutes. The current travel time on the network between INA and Lajpat Nagar (Violet Line) stations is about 24 minutes which would reduce to five minutes. Commuting time between Hauz Khas and Lajpat Nagar is 23 minutes, which would shrink to 16 minutes,” Executive Director, Corporate Communications at DMRC, Anuj Dayal said.

The new stations are — Sir Vishveshariah Moti Bagh, Bhikhaji Cama Place, Sarojini Nagar, INA, South Extension and Lajpat Nagar. Only Sir Vish- veshariah Moti Bagh station is elevated, and the rest all are underground.

This stretch is part of the 59-km long Majlis Park-shiv Vihar corridor (Pink Line) which falls under the Phaseiii network of the DMRC. A total of 23 trains will be put into service, with a frequency of 5 minutes and 12 seconds during peak hours and 5 minutes and 45 seconds during non-peak hours, the senior official said.

With the opening of this section, the operational span of the Pink Line from Majlis Park to Lajpat Nagar will become 29.66 km and the entire operational span of the DMRC will reach 296 km with 214 stations.