Delhi Metro introduces 20 additional trips on working days

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has announced the introduction of 20 additional train trips on working days as part of the measures taken to address the severe problem of rising air pollution in the capital. The primary objective of this decision is to encourage people to abandon their private vehicles and use public transport, thereby reducing the number of vehicles on the roads and decreasing pollution.

According to a report by The Economic Times, Stage-II of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) has been activated in Delhi-NCR by the Commission for Air Quality Management. Under this plan, steps have been taken to promote the use of public transport to reduce vehicle emissions and control dust pollution. For these reasons, DMRC has increased its services. With the addition of these 20 new trips, the total number of additional trips operating daily on the Delhi Metro network has now increased to 40.

As per a report by Amar Ujala, these additional services have been operational since Tuesday. Under the implementation of GRAP-II, a ban has been imposed on diesel and petrol vehicles meeting BS-4 or older standards entering Delhi from NCR. Due to this ban, a significant surge in the demand for public transport by commuters is expected, in view of which metro services have been further strengthened. On the first day of the additional trips, crowds of passengers were observed to be higher than usual days on almost all corridors, including the Yellow Line and Blue Line.

DMRC has clarified that the aim of this initiative is to provide more options to passengers so that they prefer travelling by metro instead of private vehicles. The corporation has appealed to passengers to make greater use of the metro for their daily commute to make pollution control and traffic management efforts more effective.

A significant increase in the number of passengers in the metro has also been observed. According to the Amar Ujala report, a total of 80,54,968 passenger boardings were recorded in the metro on Monday, November 2. In comparison, this figure was 72,24,094 on the previous Monday. Thus, in just one week, there has been an increase of 8,30,874 boardings in the number of passengers. According to DMRC, people's inclination towards public transport has increased due to pollution control measures under GRAP and the ban on some non-BS-6 vehicles.

However, amidst the additional trips and increasing number of passengers, operations on the Blue Line were affected on Tuesday due to a technical fault. Around 10:30 am, during peak hour, metro trains ran intermittently. This technical problem caused delays of 15 to 20 minutes in trains, which also affected subsequent trains. Due to this situation, passengers faced great difficulty in reaching their offices and other essential work.

In the context of pollution in Delhi-NCR, not only the metro but the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) has also decided to operate 20 additional trips of the Namo Bharat train. This facility will be available from November 4 across the entire corridor from Sarai Kale Khan to Modipuram in Meerut. This step has been taken as the air quality in Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Meerut is extremely poor and GRAP-II is in effect in Delhi.

This entire situation demonstrates that as pollution levels rise, efforts are being made by the administration and transport agencies to bring changes to people's travel patterns. An attempt is being made to purify the city's air by imposing restrictions on private vehicles and increasing the capacity of public transport. It is expected that these additional arrangements made by both DMRC and NCRTC will prove to be a relief for passengers, although it has also become necessary to resolve issues such as technical faults.