Faridabad to get Metro by 2013

Haryana government on Monday approved a budgetary allocation of about Rs 1,600 crore for the extension of Delhi Metro to Faridabad. The new Metro link from Badarpur to YMCA Chowk will hugely benefit residents of the NCR city and work is expected to start in a couple of months.

The financial approval came at a meeting chaired by chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. A government spokesperson said the total cost of the 13.8-km Metro project has been estimated at Rs 2,533 crore, of which the Centre will bear Rs 544.4 crore. The CM informed that the project will be completed by March 31, 2013. "It will take at least three years to complete the project after work starts on ground. We are not taking any more work ahead of the Commonwealth Games," said a DMRC official.

This elevated stretch an extension of the Central Secretariat-Badarpur line of Delhi Metro will have nine stations up to YMCA Chowk. The Metro line up to Badarpur is likely to become operational by October.

Faridabad will be the last mega city in NCR to get Metro connectivity. While the Metro has already reached Noida and Gurgaon, it will extend up to Ghaziabad next year. Meanwhile, Haryana government has already announced to extend the Metro link to Ballabhgarh. Last year, Central government had set up a three-member committee to facilitate the extension of Delhi Metro to Faridabad and Bahadurgarh.

Delhi Metro to be part of CoMet

The Delhi Metro will be included in the London-based global railway benchmarking programme CoMET (Community of Metros) following the completion of its second phase by September this year, a senior DMRC official said today.

Speaking at the 16th Foundation Day of the Delhi Metro here this evening, DMRC Director(Finance) R N Joshi said, ''With the completion of the second phase, Delhi Metro will become one of the bigger metro networks in the world and will become a member of the CoMET.''

Only those metro networks bigger than 180 km are eligible for CoMET membership with the current membership being 12.

DMRC Director(Electrical) Satish Kumar, who was also present on the occasion, said DMRC will be the 13th biggest network to become a member of the programme.

''By September 2010, Delhi Metro will make a record of having completed 125 kms, including 33 kms of underground lines, under the total second phase in four and a half years,'' he said.

He also said by January 2011, 890 coaches will be added to the network with 200 trains.

The operating revenue of the Delhi Metro in 2009-10 was Rs 515 crore, up from Rs 390 crore in 2008-09, he informed.

''We are also acquiring 300 more feeder buses which will start operating from this month itself,'' he informed.

Delhi Metro airport link may get delayed

The Airport Express project being jointly developed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and Reliance Infra, it seems, is running behind schedule and may not finish in time for Commonwealth Games 2010

The special metro train that promises to zip you from the heart of Delhi to the airport in just 22 minutes, a journey that normally takes more than an hour is expected to miss the Commonwealth Games 2010 deadlines.

Players and visitors coming for this year's Commonwealth Games in October may miss the ride on this metro as DMRC may miss its completion deadline of September 2010. The Metro is being constructed under a unique model

The DMRC will first complete all the civil works including stations, tunnel and viaduct and then hand it over to Reliance Infra, who will run it for a period of 30 years.

Reliance Infra is also responsible for laying tracks and operational equipment and completing the station, which will be modeled on airport terminals

But the big worry for the government is that DMRC has not handed over the civil structure to Reliance Infra yet for fitting out. Even stations haven’t been given out yet for fitment and it’s this 3 to 4 month delay, which can cost the project dearly.

There has been a flurry of communication between Reliance Infra and DMRC, where the company has raised apprehension that at the current pace of work it may not be able to make the system operational before the Commonwealth Games.

Tourism and Infra to get a boost

The Commonwealth Games scheduled to be held in the first two weeks of October 2010, are set to change the face of Delhi and NCR. With approximately a million tourists expected to land in India to watch the grand spectacle, the push will be great for the Indian tourism industry.

Delhi has hosted the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982. This is the first time Delhi is playing host to the commonwealth games. Infact, this is only the second time that the games are being held in Asia.

Read article, Delhi: City of flyovers

Not only are the Games going to benefit the Indian tourism industry in a big way, these are also going to boost various job opportunities in sectors like hospitality, travel, aviation, services, who are going to hire more employees in order to handle the large influx of tourists.

There are various challenges in front of Commonwealth games organizing committee like ensuring accommodation requirements. For this the government is considering innovative options like registering Bead and Breakfast service providers, and even considering camping options in NCR to augment the current hotel development projects.

Delhi government is also serious about providing comfortable commute to the visitors. 10 of the 11 Commonwealth Games venue will be linked by Metro in time for the games. City will also have a dedicated Metro line from the airport to Cannaught Place.

A four-lane, 2.2 km underground stretch from Ring Road to Lodhi will link the Games Village to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, reducing traveling time for athletes. The new eight-lane expressway from Gurgaon to Delhi is already functional. Government is in the process of procuring another 1,100 new low floor, high-capacity air-conditioned buses to ease commuting.

Infact, all the efforts being put in by Delhi government are beginning to show results. Today, Delhi has a world class Metro transportation. More than 100 flyovers have come up in last 8 years. Movement at all focal points of Delhi like Dhaula Kuan, AIIMS, and connectivity to NOIDA has been smoothened out. The pollution levels in Delhi are much less than what they were 10 years ago. The city has new GREEN LOOK because of millions of trees planted along the roads. Infact, Green and Pink are the new colours chosen by the government for the city.

All in all, the tourism and infrastructure are set to get a huge boost because of the Games.

Delhi Metro to be ready for 2010 Commonwealth Games!

Delhi Metro chief E. Sreedharan has committed that all their projects would be completed before the Commonwealth Games next year.

DMRC confirmed that recent mishap will not have any delay whatsoever on the overall completion of the Delhi Metro projects. Ongoing Phase-II of the Delhi Metro will provide easy Metro connectivity to 10 of the 11 venues of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Delhi Metro is currently operating on various routes totalling 70 km across Delhi.

Recent assertion from the Metro management comes as a good news for foreign and domestic tourists planning to visit India on the occasion of commonwealth games. The ride to different games venues will be smoother and tourists will be traveling in a truly world class mode of transport.