Future lies with Metro network

For the residents of several pockets of the capital, the Delhi Metro has become their lifeline to commute daily.

And for many others the travel woes will only mitigate if their locality finds a place on the map of Delhi Metro. The work for the ambitious third phase of Metro project has already begun and once it becomes operational by 2016, another 104 kilometre will be added to the existing network.

The major corridors that will become operational during the third phase are 55.6 km-long Mukundpur-Rajori Garden-Yamuna Vihar line, 33.5 km-long Janakpuri West-Munirka-Kalindi Kunj line, 9.3 km-long Central Secretariat- Kashmiri Gate line and 4.4 km-long Jahangirpuri–Badli stretch.

While the Mukundpur-Yamuna Vihar line will have 36 stations, the Jankapuri-Kalindi Kunj line will have 22 stations. The Central Secretariat-Kashmiri Gate stretch will have 8 stations. It will bring business hub like Lajpat Rai market and some of the heritage site in old Delhi on the metro map. The smallest corridor of the third phase, Jahangirpur-Badli line will have 4 stations.

By the end of Phase III, Delhi Metro will have a total network of over 300 km and an estimated ridership of about 40 lakh passengers per day. As per the data provided by the Central Road Research Institute, 60 per cent area of the Capital — assuming the catchment distance of metro stations to be 1.5 km — will be covered by Delhi Metro after the completion of the third phase.

The figure will touch 85 per cent after completion of phase IV and V, which will take the total distance covered by Metro to 420 km.

“For a city like Delhi, the future lies in mass rapid transit systems. Presently only about 50 per cent people use public transport in the capital, while the figure is as high as 75 per cent in Kolkata and Mumbai. While Delhi Metro on one hand has increased mobility, it has also reduced the number of vehicles on the road,” said P K Sarkar, retired professor of School of Planning and Infrastructure.

The Mukundpur-Yamuna Vihar corridor is designed in a way that it will connect most of the residential areas in the vicinity of Ring Road (Mahatma Gandhi Road) and will provide connectivity to several colonies in the northern, western and eastern parts of the city.

Some of the major stations on the stretch includes Shalimar Bagh, Shakurpur, Naraina, Delhi Cant, Dhaula Kuan, Sriniwaspuri, Ashram, Nizamuddin and Trilokpuri.   Similarly, several other areas of west and south Delhi will be on the Metro map. Dabri, Dasharath Puri, Palam, Vasant Vihar, Munirka, RK Puram, Panchsheel Park, Chirag Delhi, GK Enclave-I, Okhla Ph-III, Ishwar Nagar, Jamia Nagar, Okhla Vihar, Jasola Vihar and Kalindi Kunj are the major stations that will come up on the Janakpuri West-Kalindi Kunj corridor.

The Central Secretariat-Kashmere Gate corridor is an extension of Line 6 (Central Secretariat-Badarpur).