The Delhi Metro- A Class apart!

Apple of Delhi's eye!

Did you wake up late in the morning somewhere in the NCR region and have to be somewhere else in NCR in like an hour? No worries mate! Your friendly neighborhood transport system Delhi Metro is here to your rescue!

Gurgaon which is a satellite city of NCR region is being hailed as the Millennium city. Let us not talk about the deplorable transport facilities in Gurgaon because this topic has been discussed by so many other able writers and bloggers. Also an entire thesis can be attempted on the same, simply because there is so much material and data to back up the argument. Here I want to talk about why New Delhi is the best and top class city in India as of now, one of the reasons of which is the Metro. Set out on foot anywhere in New Delhi and you can be sure to get to the nearest metro station, study the map of junctions and decide which metro station to get down on, to reach your destination. A perennial flow of auto-rickshaws and cycle-rickshaws in New Delhi is echoing with shouts of “To the Metro?” and it is a re-assuring thing especially when you are lost and want to get to familiar territory. At the Metro everything is so simple! Every place in New Delhi can be reached through the web of nearly 150 stations of the Metro. There are no polluting buses, no overcrowding, no waiting in the sun for long hours for Delhiites. The Delhi Metro has de-congested a large portion of the routine travelers and taken upon itself the task of plying them in a clean, well-maintained, affordable and efficient way. So much so, the Delhi Metro has earned the UN distinction of being the world’s first rail-based system (and Metro) to earn carbon credits because of its clean, environment friendly operation procedures.

When I was pursuing my first year of engineering nearly seven years back, the Metro trains used to remain almost empty because the phenomenon had not picked up then. For the masses, it was a new and strange process to purchase the ticket tokens, study the map to decide where to go, pass through security and use the tokens to enter and exit at the appropriate points. So they were hesitant leading to fewer passengers. But now, all of the above are old hat for our Delhi people! The result is a bustling train reminding you of the Mumbai local. The only differences being people are not hanging outside the train and the automated announcement is requesting the passengers not to sit on the floor! Recently I read an article on the web about how the Metro is expressing itself as an integral part of the lives of Delhiites. It talked about how boys and girls are now developing relationships after first meeting on the Metro! It even gave them tips on how to approach a particular girl or boy they liked. I admit it was a very interesting and unusual read. The point the writer drove across is that now you cannot separate the Metro from the Delhiite and so many people use the same train lines everyday to commute, that the probability of them meeting the same person again on the train is considerably high.

New Delhi is known for its wide, tree-lined boulevards and is home to numerous national institutions, museums and landmarks. Now it has added one more asset to its kitty- the Metro. And I am sure the other cities will have a hard time catching up to this particular facility available in New Delhi. It is a source of pride, indeed for the city to have come up with a project planned and executed so successfully. This is also notably one of the best Government project in terms of accomplishment of the originally planned goals. After taking lessons from Kolkata Metro which was delayed because of technical problems and political interference, the Government of India and the Government of Delhi established the DMRC, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. Modeling the system after the Hong Kong MTR, which has stations at all major entertainment, shopping, eating, commercial and residential areas of Hong Kong; the DMRC got rid of technical snags. The DMRC was in full control of all decisions pertaining to the Delhi Metro and hence political interference was a non-issue. Phased construction ensured that complete focus was given to the construction at hand. Although it was an expensive project, the Delhi Metro is now operating profitably because of the revenues generated through ticket sales, advertising and consultancy for similar projects in other parts of the country. It is a shining symbol of what can be achieved if one is bent upon doing it and how the Government can similarly increase profitability in other ventures, too, through targeted planning and adoption of correct procedures.

This is not to say that the Delhi Metro is without its fair share of problems and difficulties. The prime problem, in my opinion, is the inequitable traffic distribution at stations. Since I mostly take the Yellow Line, I will talk about it. Rajiv Chowk Station, notably, on this line is so immensely crowded at nearly all times that it is very difficult to get down or board the train at this station. Still it is not much problem for young people to do this feat. But the old and senior citizens face a very hard time in such a situation. De-congesting stations like Rajiv Chowk is the primary concern that the DMRC should address. Constructing some satellite stations at this junction for each of the lines and running new trains more frequently on this station can probably alleviate the rush this station faces at peak times. But India is a populous country. No matter how many trains you increase, there are still people left to ply. So I guess the DMRC has quite a challenging job ahead to address this issue. Feeder bus service is also one thing which needs to be worked upon. Currently these are operating on select routes and stations and expanding them will increase the value of the Metro system to passengers. Finally, making the Metro more handicapped-friendly will truly seal the deal and make the Metro go into the history books as one of the best man-made marvels- alongside the Taj Mahal and maybe, the Pyramids, too…you never know!