The Hindu : New Delhi News : Metro increases frequency to cope with rush

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Monday, Oct 13, 2008
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New Delhi

Metro increases frequency to cope with rush

Staff Reporter

Additional carrying capacity of about 23,000 passengers daily created

NEW DELHI: To handle the heavy influx of passengers travelling by the Metro, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has increased the frequency of trains on the Indraprastha-Dwarka line (Line-III) and the Shahdara-Rithala line (Line-I).

Metro trains will now be available every 3.55 minutes on Line-I during peak hours while trains will be available after 3.30 minutes in the morning peak hours on Line-III.

The peak hours extend from 8-30 a.m. to 11-30 a.m. in the morning and from 4-30 p.m. to 8-30 p.m. in the evening, when the maximum number of footfalls are recorded.

According to a DMRC official, increased frequency has led to an increase in the total number of Metro train trips from 1,300 a day to 1,319. “Increase in the frequency of trains has created an additional carrying capacity of about 23,000 passengers daily,” an official said.

“The increased frequency has been made possible by reducing the waiting time by 5-10 seconds at some of the stations and also inducting extra trains during peak hours.”

As of now, the DMRC has a fleet of 70 trains, comprising four coaches each, which would be augmented by inducting another 131 trains in a phased manner from next year onwards.

“The Metro system has been designed to have trains running at 3 minute frequency with eight coaches in every train ultimately. As extra trains are received by the DMRC, the frequency will be increased and formation increased to six coach train sets on some of the crowded sectors,” the official said.

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