Delhi Metro adds 17 trains, daily trips up by 104

Delhi Metro has finally heeded complaints about slow service and large crowds during off peak and evening hours.

By TNN | Updated: Mar 02, 2015, 04.52 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Delhi Metro has finally heeded complaints about slow service and large crowds during off peak and evening hours.

On Sunday, it announced the addition of 17 more trains to the network of six lines from Monday. The addition will result in 104 more train trips and a 15-second less waiting time.

While the number may seem small, the frequency of trains during off peak and evening hours and peak hours is now going to be almost the same on two of its most populous lines — Dwarka Sector 21-Noida/Vaishali (Blue line) and Jehangirpuri-HUDA City Centre (Yellow line).

The induction of these 17 trains is expected to ease off peak (11am-4.30pm) and evening hours (4.30pm-8.30pm) traffic which has been seeing a significant increase over the past year. Delhi Metro spokesman, Anuj Dayal said while off peak and evening hour frequency is 3-4 minutes on the Blue and Yellow lines, it will now be close to the peak hours, around 2.40 seconds.

The induction of these 17 trains is expected to ease off peak (11am-4.30pm) and evening hours (4.30pm-8.30pm) traffic which has been seeing a significant increase over the past year. Delhi Metro spokesman, Anuj Dayal said while off peak and evening hour frequency is 3-4 minutes on the Blue and Yellow lines, it will now be close to the peak hours, around 2.40 seconds.

Delhi Metro said the move is also aimed at "encouraging people to avail Metro services during off peak hours." "The addition will result in 104 extra trips on all lines except Green line (Inderlok/Kirti Nagar-Mundka) and the Airport Express line," added Dayal.

As per the new operation plan, Blue and Yellow lines will be served by 12 new trains. During off peak hours, four additional trains will run on Blue line and two on Yellow line. During evening peak hours, two and three trains will run on Yellow and Blue lines, respectively. In addition to that, one train has been inducted on the Blue line to run during morning peak hours.

On Red line (Line 1), one additional train will run during off peak hours, while three will ply on Violet Line (Line 6) with another one during evening peak hours.

Authorities said Delhi Metro has an estimated average ridership of 25 lakh per day. From 2010 to 2014, DMRC increased the number of coaches from 640 to 1,076, an increase of almost 70% across the network.

"All four coach trains on lines 2, 3 and 4 have been converted into six and eight coaches, while the number of six-coach trains on Line 1 has also increased," an official said.

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