After three months of trial runs, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Tuesday applied for safety clearance of the Badarpur-Faridabad corridor. This has paved way for the line, which is an extension to the ITO-Badarpur stretch, to be opened as early as next week.
“The application requesting the Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) to inspect the Faridabad corridor has been submitted by the DMRC and we are awaiting a date for inspection of the corridor,” said Anuj Dayal, executive director (corporate communications), DMRC. Trial runs on this stretch began on April 12 and the corporation blamed the increase in number of clearances since Phase I and II projects for the inordinate delay.
Five years after it first entered Haryana at Gurgaon, the metro will make foray into the satellite town of Faridabad through the fully elevated 14 km-long stretch. Once operational, it will carry an additional two lakh passengers. According to official estimates, the present average ridership on the line stands at 1.92 lakh passengers daily.
Apart from the Mujesar terminal station, the upcoming stations on this section are Sarai, NHPC Chowk, Mewala Maharajpur, Sector 28, Badkal Mor, Old Faridabad, Neelam Chowk Ajronda and Bata Chowk. The depot for the section, Arjonda Depot, has been constructed near Sector 20 A. Officials said two more stations, NCB Colony and Ballabgarh, will be added to the line by 2017, thus increasing its length by another 3.2 km.
Next in line to be opened will be the 13.87-km-long Jahangirpuri-Samaypur Badli corridor. Civil work on the stretch is complete and nearly 90 per cent of the track work is over. Over 20 per cent of the overhead electrification work remains. The extension till Badli is 4.3 km and will cover areas like Jahangirpuri, GT Karnal Road, Rohini, Transport Nagar and Badli. The estimated ridership till Badli station is 29,000.
