Magenta line on Christmas: PM Narendra Modi to inaugurate metro stretch between Botanical Garden to Kalkaji Mandir

The rest of the line is expected to be operational by late next year. With the line becoming functional in a week, Botanical Garden becomes the first interchange station in Noida. As per figures provided by DMRC in October this year, Botanical Garden sees a footfall of 30,000 commuters, as the Blue Line (Dwarka Sector 21-Noida City Centre) makes a pit-stop there. This is expected to rise to 97,780 commuters once it turns into an interchange station.

Officials said there is platform-to-platform and concourse-to-concourse connectivity between the old and the new Botanical Garden stations. Meanwhile, the swanky new trains on the Magenta Line come with digital screens and colourful seats, and the platforms are equipped with platform screen doors which function as protective barriers. Kalkaji Mandir, which is already on the Violet Line, also becomes an interchange station. It is the only underground station of the nine on the Magenta Line. Commuters travelling from Noida to south Delhi will be able to save time as they can get off at Kalkaji Mandir station instead of changing trains at Rajiv Chowk.

Nine stations fall under this portion of the Magenta Line — Botanical Garden, Okhla Bird Sanctuary, Kalindi Kunj, Jasola Vihar-Shaheen Bagh, Okhla Vihar, Jamia Millia Islamia, Sukhdev Vihar, Okhla NSIC and Kalkaji Mandir.

Following inspections on the stretch from November 13-15 this year, the Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) granted necessary approval for opening of the corridor. An elevated stabling yard has also been built at the Jasola Vihar-Shaheen Bagh station, which can accommodate 27 trains. The DMRC claimed that this is the first-of-its-kind elevated stabling yard in India, as trains before this have been stabled at depots.