: Gearing up for the second phase of the odd-even drive, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) announced on Wednesday that it would run 200 metro trains in Delhi NCR, which would make around 3,248 trips daily for the next 15 days.
“We have increased the number of journeys by about 56 trips. Besides, 15 additional feeder buses shall be run and three new bus routes have also been introduced,” said Anuj Dayal, chief Metro spokesperson. The distance these feeder buses serve have been rationalised to 6-12 km range to maximise last-mile connectivity.
The Delhi Metro has a fleet of 220 trains.
During the first phase of the road-rationing scheme, the number of daily trips were 3,192 and 197 trains were pressed into service. These measures were later made permanent.
However, there was not any noteworthy jump in the ridership figures during the first phase of the drive. The Metro carries on average around 27 lakh passengers daily.
The Metro authorities will also deploy additional ticket operators, guards and customer facilitation agents to handle increased load on the ticketing system.
“As many as 80 ticket operators will be deployed per day, while CISF, guards and customer facilitation agents will be put on additional shifts at stations to help and guide commuters,” added Mr Dayal.
To ensure that a crowd does not built up at booking points, Ticket Vending Machines and security frisking points, lines and stations will be monitored by the control room. Moreover, 28 teams of officers will be deployed to ensure smooth movement. Four additional lines are being added to the helpline number 155370.
“List of routes and possible vacancies has been provided to the DTC for deploying their buses for the last-mile connectivity. Feeder buses presently run on 33 routes,” informed an official.
The corporation added that it will be pressing into service the maximum number of trains possible operationally during the April 15-30 period keeping only the essential maintenance reserve.
“In order to spread awareness among commuters to use the Delhi Metro during the odd-even scheme, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation is also flashing awareness messages on the electronic information screen boards at station platforms,” the official added. Even Delhi Transport Corporation buses are publicising the scheme by displaying “odd-even phase 2 from April 15” on their screens.
