Airport Express to travel deeper into Dwarka; Metro begins trials | Latest News Delhi - Hindustan Times
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Airport Express to travel deeper into Dwarka; Metro begins trials

Jun 27, 2022 05:09 AM IST

The new Metro station will be the seventh one to come up along the Airport Metro Express, with the previous six stations at New Delhi, Shivaji Stadium, Dhaula Kuan, Aerocity, IGIA Terminal 3, and Dwarka’s Sector 21.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Sunday started trial runs on a 2km-long stretch between Dwarka Sector 21 and the upcoming India International Convention Centre (IICC) Metro section (Dwarka Sector 25) on the Airport Express Line, in a bid to provide better connectivity to Dwarka, said officials.

The rail corporation has been working round the clock to finish the project by mid-2022.,(HT File)
The rail corporation has been working round the clock to finish the project by mid-2022.,(HT File)

The upcoming IICC Metro section is an underground station and an extension of the presently operational Delhi Airport Metro Express, which connects the New Delhi railway station to Dwarka Sector 21 via Indira Gandhi International Airport’s (IGIA) Terminal 3. According to officials, following the extension, the New Delhi to Dwarka Sector 25 (IICC) Airport Express Line corridor will become 24.7km-long.

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The new Metro station will be the seventh one to come up along the Airport Metro Express, with the previous six stations at New Delhi, Shivaji Stadium, Dhaula Kuan, Aerocity, IGIA Terminal 3, and Dwarka’s Sector 21.

“Signalling systems are tested during trial runs, following which, mandatory inspections by various authorities concerned including the commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) will be conducted. The section will be opened for passenger traffic after these mandatory approvals,” said Anuj Dayal, principal executive director (corporate communications), DMRC.

The Metro station is being built at a depth of nearly 17m from the surface, and will have five entry or exit points to be facilitated by 14 escalators and five lifts, along with staircases for smooth passenger movement. “The new Metro station will also have full-height platform screen doors, just like the other six stations of the Airport Express Line,” Dayal said, adding that the station will also provide a Metro connectivity to the residents of sectors 25 and 26 of Dwarka and the new sectors along the Dwarka Expressway in neighbouring Gurugram.

Residents of these areas will be able to reach central Delhi in just about half an hour after the new segment is opened to the public, according to DMRC officials. Neighbouring areas such as Bharthal, Bamnoli and Pochanpur villages — where residents rely on shared and feeder services to commute — will also have convenient commute with the opening of this extension.

The new Metro station will cater to the upcoming IICC — the largest exhibition-cum-convention centre in the country, which will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities such as convention centres, auditoriums, hotels, office spaces among others, said the DMRC. A Metro station inside the new state-of-the-art convention centre will make it easier for people from across the city to reach the centre. Apart from just serving visitors of the centre, the Metro station will also immensely boost connectivity in the peripheral areas. According to officials, the attendance at the convention centre, which promises facilities to host large-scale seminars, meetings and exhibitions, is also expected to boost the ridership of the Metro line. The other Metro lines which provide connectivity to Dwarka are the Blue Line (Noida Electronic City / Vaishali — Dwarka Sector 21) and the Grey Line (Dhansa Bus Stand — Dwarka).

Senior DMRC officials said that though the work for the 310-crore Metro project started in 2018 and was expected to be completed by last year, it got delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The rail corporation has been working round the clock to finish the project by mid-2022, they added.

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