Safety audit begins on Badarpur-Faridabad metro stretch

Four months after trial runs began of the Badarpur-Faridabad stretch of the Delhi metro, the Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS) have started the mandatory inspection from Monday.

A team led by Safety Commissioner R K Kardam began the three-day inspection of the Metro track between Badarpur and Escorts Ajronda in Faridabad.

The inspection team also comprised Deputy Commissioners, Safety, Sulabh Tyagi and Rajbal Khoiwal, Chief Project Engineer R P Parashar, Chief Engineer I P Singh, DMRC Directors H S Anand, A K Gupta, Sharad Sharma and Jitender Tyagi.

The CMRS would carry out the inspection till August 12. This would take the opening of the line to the next step. While partial energy requirements of the corridor would be met by solar power, different teams of the DMRC are working in full swing on areas like electric wires, communication system, and track safety. 

The 14-km section is an extension of the ITO- Badarpur line (Purple Line) of the network with which the Delhi metro will make its first entry into Faridabad. Once fully operational, it will span from Kashmere Gate to Escorts Mujesar having a length of 43.4 km.

It will have a total of 32 stations, including five inter-change stations — Kashmere Gate, Mandi House, Central Secretariat, Lajpat Nagar and Kalkaji Mandir. The depot for the section, Arjonda Depot, has been constructed near Sector 20 A.

Since the Metro line is parallel to the busy National Highway 2 connecting south Delhi with Faridabad, the DMRC has constructed nine new pedestrian over bridges (FOBs).

All Metro stations have been designed in such a way that there are FOBs that will facilitate the movement of pedestrians not intending to travel by the Metro.

DMRC has installed 37 lifts and 45 escalators at the nine stations. The lifts will be operated by the environment friendly regenerative braking technology.

Apart from the Mujesar terminal station, the upcoming stations are Sarai, NHPC Chowk, Mewla Maharajpur, Sector 28, Badkhal Mor, Old Faridabad, Neelam Chowk Ajronda, and Bata Chowk.

Hooda plans Metro rail between Faridabad and Gurgaon

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said he had a plan to connect Faridabad and Gurgaon with Metro rail to facilitate the people of the area.

Mr Hooda, who was addressing a public meeting at Faridabad yesterday, said the state government has already paved the way to connect Delhi with Faridabad upto YMCA through metro rail and it would be extended upto Ballabhgarh.

He said the state government was committed for allround development of Faridabad and after five years, Faridabad would be a leading industrial city of the country.

He said NIT Faridabad was set up by first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru and the state saw a lot of progress during the Congress regimes.

Haryana approves funds for Metro to Faridabad

Haryana government on Monday approved a budgetary allocation of Rs 1,588.6 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 claimed the project is stipulated to take off in October this year and 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.

Haryana government had approved Metro connectivity to Faridabad in March 2007. The project was subsequently approved by DMRC in December 2007 but was waiting clearance from the Delhi government and Centre.

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.