Thursday, June 24, 2010

Gurgaon Metro a Big Headache for Delhi Metro Rail Corporation

A day after it was thrown open to public, Metro’s Gurgaon-Qutub line recorded a marginal increase in rider ship up from 36,182 on Monday to 38,700 on Tuesday. Keeping in mind the rush, DMRC introduced a new train on the route.

‘‘With the addition of another train now, the total number of train trips in a day on this stretch has increased from 179 to 211. We expect the rider ship to go up,’’ said a DMRC spokesperson.

While the Millennium City celebrated its first comfortable and fast public transport system, the Metro also triggered traffic jams outside stations where cars jostled to find parking space. Huge rush was reported from roads leading to Metro stations in Gurgaon on Tuesday. MG Road and Sikanderpur witnessed jams during peak hours.

The jams, cops said, resulted from lack of sufficient feeder buses which forced commuters to take their vehicles to Metro stations. ‘‘The roads leading to Metro stations were heavily clogged in the morning and evening peak hours and we had to struggle hard to regulate traffic movement,’’ said a traffic cop stationed near MG Road police station.

Amid chaos, residents said that their dream of having Metro in the city had come true but facilities are not up to the mark. ‘‘The parking lot at MG Road Metro station is very small and the stretch too is very congested. Due to this, reaching the station is a tedious task. The authorities should immediately widen the stretch and start feeder bus service to all five stations,’’ said R S Rathee, president, Gurgaon citizens council. ‘‘What will happen when the Metro reaches Central Secretariat? The authorities are not prepared to handle the rush,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, a large number of Delhiites made use of the Metro to reach their offices in Gurgaon. The footfall at Qutub Minar Metro station was 11,700 on Tuesday. But unlike Dwarka-Noida line, very few people are patronizing this section. DMRC sold only 500 smart cards on the first day whereas close to 2,787 were sold on the opening day of Dwarka-Noida line. ‘‘We expect more rush once this stretch is connected to Central Secretariat,’’ said a DMRC spokesperson.

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