New Delhi: The over 20 km-long stretch of Pink Line, all set to open on Wednesday, will connect the north and south campuses of the Delhi University, on the metro network for the first time, with a travel time of about 40 minutes, officials said on Monday.

The Majlis Park-Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus section of the Pink Line, will prove a big boon for commuters, especially students, who till now have to travel either by road from the North Campus or take the Airport Line metro till Dhaula Kuan and commute again on road. The North Campus area of Delhi University already has a metro station—Vishwavidyalaya, which falls on the Yellow Line that connects Samaypur Badli to Huda City Centre in Gurgaon.

“The two DU campuses are now connected to each other on the Delhi Metro network for the first time. It will help in cutting travel time for commuters, but benefit the students particularly, who had to travel mostly by road till now," a senior official of the DMRC said.

Executive director, corporate communications at the DMRC, Anuj Dayal said, “From Vishwavidyalaya metro station to Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus station, it will take around 40 minutes, including time for interchange at Azadpur station."

Azadpur Station (with Yellow Line) is one of the three interchange stations on the Pink Line stretch that opens on 14 March, the other two being, Netaji Subhash Place (with Red Line) and Rajouri Garden (Blue Line). The Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety (CMRS), which inspected the stretch from 26-28 February, has given the clearance for the project.

The 21.56 km-long Majlis Park–Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus Metro corridor is slated to be formally flagged off by union minister for housing and urban affairs (independent charge) Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on 14 March at 4pm from the Metro Bhawan here.

Passenger services on the stretch will begin from 6pm onwards on the same day from both Majlis Park and Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus stations simultaneously, the official said, adding that “the end-to-end travel time on this section of the Pink Line would be 34 minutes".

This section, which has 12 stations, is part of the 59 km-long Majlis Park–Shiv Vihar corridor (Pink Line–Line 7) of Delhi Metro’s Phase 3. All the stations have platform-screen doors. The stations are—Majlis Park, Azadpur, Shalimar Bagh, Netaji Subhash Place, Shakurpur, Punjabi Bagh West, ESI Hospital, Rajouri Garden, Mayapuri, Naraina Vihar, Delhi Cantt and Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus.

Out of the 12 stations, eight are elevated and rest underground. As with the recently-opened Magenta Line, broad-sized coaches from the new rolling stock, will ply on the standard gauge Pink line.

Metro’s new generation trains, which can run without drivers, will also run on this section where an advanced Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling technology that will facilitate the movement of trains with a frequency of 90 to 100 seconds will also be pressed into service.

However, for an initial period of two-three years the trains will have drivers.

“Initially trains will be operated with a frequency of 3 minutes and 28 seconds between South Campus and Shakurpur stations during peak time and 4 minutes during off-peak hours. Between Shakurpur and Majlis Park stations it will ply with a frequency of 5 minutes and 12 seconds during peak time and 6 minutes during off-peak hours," according to the DMRC.

A total of 19 trains will be pressed into service for the entire section, it said. “For the first time travelators have been installed at the foot over bridges to facilitate interchange at Rajouri Garden and South Campus stations," the official said.

The new Netaji Subhash Place station, which is semi-underground, has been tastefully decorated with artworks on walls. All the stations have been certified as ‘Platinum’ by the India Green Building Council, the DMRC said.

“The metro train on this stretch will also cross Dhaula Kuan at a height of 23.6 m (as high as a seven-storey building) to reach South Campus from Majlis Park," the DMRC said.

The Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar corridor, also known as the Pink Line, is part of the Phase-III project. Testing on the segment (Majlis Park-South Campus), part of the Phase-III project of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, was also successfully completed recently.

Starting last year, trial runs on its other stretches have also been conducted. The entire corridor will open by June 2018. The 21.56 km-long corridor, once opened, will also reduce metro travel time between Dwarka 21 (Blue Line) and Rithala (Red Line) by over 16 minutes; and Rajouri Garden and Azadpur by nearly 23 minutes, the DMRC said.

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