When Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda flagged off the first metro train on a trial run from Gurgaon on Friday, the metro’s journey into the teeming suburb moved closer to fruition.
The train started from HUDA City Centre and reached Guru Dronacharya metro station after covering the distance of about 7 km. While the Central Secretariat-Gurgaon line is scheduled for a June opening, the service from Gurgaon to Qutub will start in May.
After Noida, Gurgaon is the second National Capital Region town where the Delhi Metro will extend its services.
“During the inaugural trial run conducted on Friday, the interaction of the train with physical infringements (civil structure) was checked to ensure that there was no physical blockage during the movement of the train on the track. The train was run at a slow speed since it was the first run. The speed will gradually be increased to 50 km per hour, and ultimately a maximum of 80 km per hour will be generated during subsequent trial runs which are expected to continue for a few weeks,” said a DMRC spokesperson.
“The 7 km elevated Gurgaon section of the Delhi Metro forms a part of the under-construction 27 km long Central Secretariat-Gurgaon corridor of the Delhi Metro which will be an extension of the Jehangirpuri-Central Secretariat line (Line 2). The 12.53 km Central Secretariat-Qutub Minar section will be fully underground while the 14.47 km Qutub Minar-Gurgaon section will be fully elevated,” the spokesperson said.
The expected daily ridership on the Central Secretariat-Qutub Minar section is 1.8 lakh, while the expected daily ridership on the Qutub Minar-Gurgaon section is 1.6 lakh by 2011.
“Once the Central Secretariat-Gurgaon corridor is opened for the public, it will form an about 45 km long metro line connecting North Delhi, South Delhi and Gurgaon in one corridor. Travel time from Rajiv Chowk (Connaught Place) to Gurgaon is expected to come down from one-and-half hours by road now to about 50 minutes by metro,” the spokesperson said.
The Gurgaon section will be the first section in the Central Secretariat-Gurgaon corridor to be opened to the public.
The fully-elevated line (from HUDA City Centre Metro Station to Guru Dronacharya Metro Station) passes through residential and institutional areas of Gurgaon. It has five stations-- HUDA City Centre, IFFCO Chowk, M G Road, Sikanderpur and Guru Dronacharya metro station.
Public conveniences have been provided at all the stations with provision for handicapped persons as well. Property development is proposed at all of the metro stations on this stretch. Parking facilities will be available at all the five metro stations.
