1. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi flagged off the Kalkaji Mandir-Botanical Garden section of the newly-built
Magenta Line on Monday. Uttar Pradesh chief minister
Yogi Adityanath was also in attendance. However, Delhi CM
Arvind Kejriwal was conspicuous by his absence, as he had reportedly not been extended an invitation to the event.
2. The 12.64-km stretch of the Magenta Line, interspersed by nine stations, has many firsts to its credit, including platform screen doors (PSDs) and a hi-tech signalling technology for movement of trains.
3. Metro's new generation trains, which can operate without drivers, will run on this section aided by the Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling technology. This new-age signalling system can facilitate movement of trains with a frequency of 90 to 100 seconds.
4. With the commissioning of the new line, the travel time between south Delhi and Noida will be significantly reduced. The direct ride on the Magenta Line from
Kalkaji Mandir to
Botanical Garden takes 19 minutes while travelling through Blue and Violet Lines between the old stations takes 52 minutes, with interchange facility at Mandi House station.
5. In another first, broad-sized coaches will ply on the standard gauge track of the Magenta Line of the
Delhi Metro. Coaches measuring 3.2 m in width will be in operation on the new Line. This will also allow 30-40 more passengers than the capacity of coaches running on a standard gauge.
6. The coaches running on this line have electronic information display, multi-handle rails, power charging capacity, including directly through USB ports. The new trains are also energy-efficient and would save about 20 per cent energy compared to the existing coaches.
7. The new trains will also feature colourful seats, with pink seats in the Women's coach, orange and blue in the general cars and specific hues to demarcate seats reserved for senior citizens and the specially-abled.
8. DMRC authorities said that 10 trains would operate on this new line, while two would be kept on reserve, one each at Kalkaji Mandir and Botanical Garden stations. Initially, trains will operate with a frequency of five minutes and 14 seconds on this section.
9. The Botanical Garden has been developed as the metro's first-ever interchange station outside the boundaries of Delhi.
10. Apart from Kalkaji Mandir, all other stations are elevated. The new Kalkaji Mandir station has an elevated walkway which connects the new facility with the existing station, to facilitate passengers travelling towards
Faridabad side.
(With PTI inputs)