A roller-caster ride to airport soon
After missing three deadlines, Delhi metro's showcase Airport Express line will finally roll out for passenger service in the next ten days, fulfilling Delhiites' dream of enjoying a fast and hassle-free ride to the international airport.
Though the Airport Express corridor, that connects the city's main shopping hub of Connaught Place with the Airport, will have a formal inauguration later, the line will start commercial operations once the CISF guards move in.
The good news is that once the line opens, passengers of few airlines may be able to check-in their baggages at New Delhi and Shivaji Stadium stations.
A day after the Centre formally announced that the security of the line will be handled by the CISF, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit inspected the corridor and expressed satisfaction over the operational preparedness.
"The line is ready (for operations). It is very good, modern and the only corridor in the country connects the city with airport. It has been built very beautifully," she told reporters.
A senior official of the Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited (DAMEPL) said the line is likely to be made operational between February 15 and February 20.
The line promises a quick ride for passengers from CP to Airport in just 20 minutes with 3 stoppages in between. Infrastructure at the stations are ready and the train will run at a speed of 105 km per hour.
Ms Dikshit and Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan announced that the line will start operations in a week's time though a formal launch would happen later.
"The formal opening of the line will take a month's time, but the trials (operations) will start within a week's time," she said.
Sreedharan said the corridor will be thrown open to the public once the security personnel moves in, which is likely to happen in a week's time.
Mangu Singh, Director (Works), DMRC told PTI that the operations will begin in sometime and a formal launch as desired by the concessionaire will happen in a month's time.
"Once the security personnel move in, the line will be opened for public. Since the concessionaire wants a formal launch we will have one later," he said.
To begin with, the line will have a 16-hour service from 6 AM to 10 PM and some airlines are likely to set up their check-in counters before the operations start, he said.
The link has missed three deadlines — October 3 (Commonwealth Games), October 31 and December 31 — set by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and the Union urban development ministry.
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