Dikshit-Reddy jointly flag off first train on 15.5-km Inderlok-Mudka corridor
03 Apr 2010
The Inderlok-Mundka Metro corridor of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) made its debut run on Friday as it readied for the public opening on Saturday morning.
The Delhi Metro now has only three more lines - Central Secretariat - Gurgaon HUDA City Centre, Central Secretariat- Badarpur and Airport Experss line- to complete Phase II covering 190 km. It will ferry 20 lakh passengers a day by October.
The first train from Inderlok to Paschim Vihar on the 15.5-km corridor was jointly flagged off by urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy and Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit.
The line, the first on the standard gauge, will open up the way for two other corridors - Badarpur and Airport Express Line, which will follow the same gauge.
The Inderlok-Mundka corridor marks a shift from broad gauge to a cost-friendly mode. According to Reddy, the DMRC has saved Rs72 crore on the new line.
The Inderlok Mundka travel will take 29 minutes and with 10 trains being pressed into service, the peak hour frequency would be six minutes.
The Central Secretariat Badarpur line and Airport Express line currently under construction are expected to be ready in September before the Commonwealth Games, this year.
The line, which passes through some thickly populated areas of west and northwest Delhi, has been dubbed the 'Green Line'. It connects residential colonies like Punjabi Bagh, Paschim Vihar, Madipur and Nangloi and industrial pockets of Mundka and Udyog Vihar with central Delhi.