New Metro line a boon to South Delhi
The Delhi Metro rolled out from Central Secretariat to South Delhi’s Sarita Vihar on Sunday morning, connecting the main 2010 Commonwealth Games venue — Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium — a few hours before the opening ceremony.
The 15-km corridor, which brings the Metro to posh South Delhi localities like Greater Kailash I and II as well as tony Khan Market and the busy Nehru Place commercial hub, was inaugurated by DMRC chief E. Sreedharan, without any formal ceremony.
The first train from Central Secretariat (CST) to Sarita Vihar was flagged off at 8 am.
The deadline to open the link to Badarpur was September 30, but DMRC decided to throw it open till Sarita Vihar now as some signalling work remains on the Sarita Vihar-Badarpur stretch. This is expected to open in another 10 days or so.
When the Airport Express line opens later in October, Phase Two of Delhi Metro will be complete.
As the CST-Sarita Vihar line connects J.N. Stadium, the Metro will run 29 trains on it till the end of the Games at an all-time high frequency of 2.40 minutes. DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal said Mr Sreedharan would personally monitor movement on the line on Sunday from the Metro operations control centre. Work on the line got interrupted last year after an under-construction pillar collapsed last year at Zamrudpur, near GK-I, killing seven people.
Mr Sreedharan, like many others, also used the Metro to go to the opening ceremony.
Every train from CST station was jampacked on Sunday, but almost emptied at the stadium station.
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