The 24.82-km Kalkaji Mandir-Janakpuri West stretch of Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line was officially thrown open to passengers on 29 May.
The line was flagged off by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs (Independent Charge) Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday, 28 May. The ministers inaugurated the corridor at Nehru Enclave metro station on Monday.
The 24.82-km stretch brings the domestic terminal of the city airport on the DMRC network and cuts travel time between Noida and Gurugram by at least 30 minutes. Commuters travelling from Gurugram will now be able to change trains at Hauz Khas to reach south Delhi and Noida.
With the opening of this section, the total operational span of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) network has reached to 277 km, officials said.
Speaking on the occasion, Kejriwal said that the Delhi government would soon take a decision on the delayed Phase IV of the Metro network. After the inauguration, the dignitaries travelled in a train to the Hauz Khas metro station.
The segment has 16 stations,14 underground, two elevated. At 29 metres, the five-level Hauz Khas station is the deepest metro station in the entire network and an engineering landmark as its tunnel goes beneath that of the existing station on Yellow Line.
Hauz Khas (with Yellow Line) and Janakpuri West (with Blue Line) stations are the interchange facilities on this corridor, besides the existing Kalkaji Mandir station (with Violet Line).
This section is also the longest stretch to have been opened so far in the DMRC's Phase-III project.
This section of the Magenta Line will also reduce the travel time between West Delhi and the southern areas of the city like Vasant Vihar, Munirka, Indian Institute of Technology, Greater Kailash, Chirag Delhi, etc. The first section of the Magenta Line, connecting Botanical Garden in Noida to Kalkaji Mandir, was opened for use in December 2017.
With the new line, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) are now also connected by metro.
"After the inauguration of this vital link, the approximate time to commute between HUDA City Centre (end of Yellow Line on Gurgaon side) and Botanical Garden (on Blue Line in Noida) stations will be about 50 minutes," a DMRC official said.
"Currently, a metro journey from HUDA City Centre to Botanical Garden takes about an hour and a half with the interchange at Rajiv Chowk station," they said.
The corridor will operate with 24 trains which will gradually increase to 26 apart from the operating reserves. The frequency will be 5 minutes and 15 seconds during peak hours through the whole section and if passenger traffic demands shorter intermediate loops with higher frequency will be introduced after studying the traffic pattern, officials said.
(This copy has been updated to reflect the launch of the Magenta line.)
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