Soon, four Metro stations to become key interchange hubs

FOUR METRO stations in the city are set to be transformed into big interchange hubs, and are likely to aid a marked change in the travel pattern of commuters. Hauz Khas metro station on the upcoming Janakpuri West to Botanical Garden corridor and INA, Rajouri Garden and Mayur Vihar Phase I stations on Majlis Park to Shiv Vihar corridor, will see increase in footfall as they will serve as key switch-over points in a network that is set to double by the end of the year.

According to estimates in the detailed project report, after the opening of the entire Phase III network, Hauz Khas interchange station will record a daily footfall of 1.69 lakh whereas Rajouri Garden will have 1.56 lakh passengers using it per day, followed by INA and Mayur Vihar Phase I metro stations, that will have 1.29 lakh and 1.13 lakh passengers per day respectively. Currently, these stations have a footfall of not more than 30,000 passengers per day.

The existing Hauz Khas metro station on the Samaypur Badli to HUDA City Center corridor (yellow line) will be merged with an upcoming station on the 38.23 km Janakpuri West to Botanical Garden corridor, dramatically cutting down travel time for those commuting between West or East Delhi to South Delhi. Earlier commuters had to go all the way to Rajiv Chowk to change metros, taking a futile detour.

Rajouri Garden and Mayur Vihar Phase I metro stations on the new serpentine circular metro corridor from Majlis Park to Shiv Vihar (58.59 km) will connect the line to the existing Dwarka Sector 21 to Noida City Center corridor while INA will connect the upcoming line to the existing yellow line.

"The new interchange stations will not only bring down travel time but also help commuters cut down on expenses as they will no longer have to make lengthy detours to change metros. The other big dividend will be the decongestion of Rajiv Chowk thatisthebusiestinterchangestation of the Delhi Metro's existing network," said an official Delhi Metro spokesperson.

"The yellow (Samaypur Badli to HUDA City Centre) and blue (Dwarka Sector 21 - NOIDA City Centre) lines, which together carry about 12 lakh commuters every day have an interchange at Rajiv Chowk that registers a footfall of about 5 lakh passengers on week days. The new interchange stations will take off a huge load from Rajiv Chowk."

The Delhi Metro currently has nine interchange stations that will go up to a total of 27 stations by the end of this year when all the Phase III lines are open to the public. The total length of the metro network is set to go up to 315 kms with an expected daily footfall of 40 lakh passengers.