Referring to the cracks that appeared on the Delhi-Noida metro rail line in recent months and were responsible for the delay in its opening, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Managing Director E. Sreedharan on Thursday said: “The 11 cracks that had appeared have been repaired. The piers have been checked by independent people hired by DMRC. There are no concerns on safety issues.”
Answering questions on the hike in metro fares that comes into effect from Friday, he said the increase had been necessitated by rising expenditure incurred on expansion of the network.
Coming to DMRC’s aid, Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said: “The Urban Development Ministry provides hundreds of acres of land to DMRC for large-scale commercial exploitation so that it can have more revenue. This is what is facilitating a reasonable fare system.”
Presiding over the Delhi-Noida line inaugural ceremony, the Union Minister said security of the metro in UP would be looked after by the Central Industrial Security Force, which looks after the security of all Delhi Metro stations in the Capital.
The Noida corridor, built at a cost of Rs.630 crore, is completely elevated and will be integrated with the existing 34.3-km Yamuna Bank-Dwarka Sector-9 segment, extending the total length of Line 3 to 47.4 km. Initially two trains coming from Dwarka will terminate at Yamuna Bank while every third train will continue up to Noida City Centre. As more trains become available, every alternate train from Yamuna Bank will continue to Noida. Parking will be available at all stations on the Delhi side -- Yamuna Bank, Akshardham, Mayur Vihar-I, Mayur Vihar Extension and New Ashok Nagar. Parking will also be available at Noida City Centre and Botanical Garden, and temporary parking at Sector 15 station.
Meanwhile, there was a moment of anxiety at Noida City Centre station when some children managed to break the security cordon and jumped on to the rail tracks. It all happened after the ceremonial flag-off of the metro service from Noida by UP Chief Minister Mayawati. According to DMRC officials, the children entered the station after it was thrown open for ruling Bahujan Samaj Party supporters who had come in for the flag-off ceremony. The children who jumped on to the tracks were immediately removed by the security officials.
