Lifeline of Delhi-ncr: Delhi Metro completes 17 years of ops
NEW DELHI: A pioneer in the Capital’s public transportation system, the Delhi Metro has completed 17 years of operations and continues to serve as the lifeline of Delhi-ncr as the most popular form of mass transport in the city. Measuring nearly 350 kilometres with 253 stations, the Delhi Metro network has over the years spanned the length and breadth of the Capital region, covering every nook and cranny of the city and the nearby NCR, with an annual ridership of over 26 lakh people.
On December 24, 2002, the Delhi Metro began operations along an 8.5-kilometre stretch between Shahdara and Tis Hazari stations on the Red Line. As the years progressed, more lines have been constructed under three phases and today, Delhi has one of the most extensive metro networks in India. It has been built with assistance from Japan, which helped Delhi Metro with funding of its projects.
Currently, there are nine colour-coded metro lines - Red Line (Dilshad Garden to Shaheed Sthal New Bus Adda), Blue Line (Dwarka Sector 21 to Noida Electronic City/vaishali), Yellow Line (Samaypur Badli to HUDA City Centre), Green Line (Inderlok/kirti Nagar to Brigadier Hoshiyar Singh), Violet Line (Kashmere Gate to Raja Nahar Singh Ballabgarh), Airport Express Line (New Delhi to Dwarka Sector 21), Magenta
Line (Janakpuri West to Botanical Garden), Pink Line (Majlis Park to Mayur Vihar Pocket 1 and Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake to Shiv Vihar) and Grey Line (Dwarka to Najafgarh).
To mark the occasion, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) organised an exhibition, an audio-visual look back at the journey so far, a live puppet show and an instrumental music performance at its headquarters, Metro Bhawan, at Barakhamba Road.
“Commemorating the 17 years of operations of Delhi Metro, Dr Mangu Singh, Managing Director/dmrc, viewed the exhibition featuring the paintings of the metro by renowned artists and photographs taken by our passengers,” DMRC tweeted. ”Celebrating the special day, an event with instrumental music, videos featuring spectacular visuals of Delhi Metro, an entertaining puppet show featuring travel etiquettes, and a special appearance by Mr Shammi Narang and Ms Rini Khanna, the voice of Delhi Metro, was organised,” it said.
“On this day, 17 years ago, Delhi Metro began its operations from Shahdara to Tis Hazari. Speaking on the occasion, MD/DMRC, Dr Mangu Singh recounted his journey and interesting experiences with the Delhi Metro,” Delhi Metro said in a follow-up tweet.
The DMRC has a good presence on social media, where it regularly informs commuters about delays or makes announcements apart from sharing throwback photographs.