The Indian Express | Delhi Metro’s full Magenta line opens, Noida-Gurugram travel time cut by 30 mins

May 29,2018

The 24.82-km-long Janakpuri West-Kalkaji Mandir stretch of the Delhi Metro's Magenta Line officially opened for the public from Tuesday (May 29). It will cut travel time between Noida and Gurugram by at least 30 minutes.

At 29 metres, the five-level new Hauz Khas station is the deepest metro station in the entire network and an engineering landmark as its tunnel goes beneath that of the old stations.

The corridor of the Magenta Line, part of Phase-III of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, was inaugurated on May 28 by Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs (Independent Charge) Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at Nehru Enclave metro station.

Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri travels in a metro train after the inauguration of the Kalkaji Mandir-Janakpuri West stretch of the Delhi Metro's Magenta Line.

Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the inauguration of the 24.82 km long Kalkaji Mandir-Janakpuri West stretch of the Delhi Metro's Magenta Line.

The corridor will operate with 24 trains which will gradually increase to 26 apart from the operating reserves.

Hauz Khas (with Yellow Line) and Janakpuri West (with Blue Line) stations are the interchange facilities on this corridor, besides the existing Kalkaji Mandir station (with Violet Line).

Passenger services on the segment, which has 16 stations including 14 underground and two elevated began from Tuesday at 6 am from the Kalkaji Mandir and Janakpuri West stations simultaneously.

The stations on this extended corridor are: Janakpuri West, Dabri Mor, Dashrathpuri, Palam, Sadar Bazar, Terminal 1 – IGI Airport, Shankar Vihar, Vasant Vihar, Munirka, RK Puram, Hauz Khas, IIT, Panchsheel Park, Chirag Delhi, GK Enclave and Nehru Enclave.

The latest addition will benefit commuters from South Delhi and Noida who can now travel directly to the airport on the metro. Terminal 1 Metro station will cater to domestic passengers.

The Delhi Metro is also touting the Magenta Line as a 'Knowledge Corridor' as four major universities like Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Indian Insititute of Technology (IIT) of the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) have been connected on it.

With the opening of this stretch, the entire Janakpuri West-Botanical Garden Magenta Line corridor, covering the city's arterial Outer Ring Road, will become operational.

This section is also the longest stretch to have been opened so far in the DMRC's Phase-III project. The frequency of train will be five minutes and 15 seconds during peak hours through the whole section.

On December 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the 12.64-km-long stretch of the Magenta Line's Botanical Garden-Kalkaji Mandir corridor, cutting down the travel time between Noida and parts of south Delhi by more than 30 minutes.