5-min wait for metro on Magenta Line

NEW DELHI: The Janakpuri West-Kalkaji Mandir section of the Magenta Line will become operational from May 29, drastically reducing travel time between Gurugram and Noida to just 50 minutes and putting IGI Airport’s domestic terminal on the Delhi Metro map for the first time.The new 25.6km section, which has 16 stations, will make the entire 38.2km Botanical Garden to Janakpuri West Magenta Line functional. At both ends, it will connect with the Blue Line (Dwarka-Noida/Vaishali) and make a ‘ring’ around south, west, central and east Delhi. The corridor will reduce the congestion on the Blue Line.The Botanical Garden-Kalkaji Mandir stretch of the Magenta Line was opened last December. The new stretch will be flagged off by Union Minister for housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal from the Nehru Enclave station on May 28.The new section would be opened to public from 6am next day, with train services starting from Kalkaji Mandir and Janakpuri West stations simultaneously, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesperson Anuj Dayal said. After the line is operational, 24 trains would be run that would be gradually increased to 26. The frequency will be 5 minutes 15 seconds throughout, and if needed, shorter intermediate loops with higher frequency would be introduced after studying the traffic pattern.At 25.6 km in length, the Janakpuri West-Kalkaji Mandir section is one of the longest Delhi Metro corridors to be opened to public at one go. The other long sections opened at one go include the Dwarka-Barakhamba Road section of Blue Line (22km) and the Airport Express Line (23 km).This is not the only first to Magenta Line’s credit, which was also the first to witness ‘driverless’ train technology. DMRC will introducing smart card vending machines for the first time, starting from three stations of the corridor — Botanical Garden, Janakpuri West and Terminal 1-IGI Airport. Residents of Noida will get direct connectivity to the airport.The highlights of this corridor will be the two new interchange facilities that will come up at Janakpuri West (with the Dwarka-Noida/ Vaishali Blue Line) and Hauz Khas (with the HUDA City Centre–Samaypur Badli Yellow line).Commuters travelling from Gurugram will now be able to change trains at Hauz Khas instead of Rajiv Chowk to reach south Delhi and Noida within 50 minutes.Out of the 25.6km section, 23km are underground and the rest is elevated. Only two stations — Sadar Bazar and Shankar Vihar — are elevated and the remaining stations are all underground. The corridor is expected to reduce congestion on the Rajiv Chowk Metro station.