Delhi Metro authorities say they are all set to operationalise the 12.64 km section of the Magenta line from Botanical Garden to Kalkaji Mandir.

Once the section of Magenta line is cleared from the Centre for Metro Rail Safety (CMRS), Botanical Garden metro station will become the first interchange station in the National Capital Region. The 38.23km long stretch will be between Botanical Garden till Janakpuri West.

New additions such as Platform Screen Door and open Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) gates will be installed. While the Platform Screen Doors will be mounted at the platforms for the safety of commuters, getting in and out of the train, the open AFCs intend to save the time of the commuters. "We have seen that punching in the token or card, the gates open up and then the commuters moves in or out. This is a waste of time. We feel that by removing the barrier from the gate, the passengers just need to punch in his metro card or token to enter/exit the station."

Talking about the importance of the Botanical Garden metro station, a senior DMRC official said that in the present metro network, there are no interchange stations outside Delhi. This station is going to provide interchange between line 3 (NOIDA City Centre - Dwarka Sector 21) and the Botanical Garden corridor - Kalkaji Mandir Magenta line of Phase 3 (line 8), which is expected to start within two months.

Once the section of the Magenta line at Botanical Garden metro statin becomes operational, it will connect Noida to South Delhi

Commuters travelling from NOIDA to Faridabad will now be able to change trains at Kalkaji Mandir and go directly to Faridabad. Since both Botanical Garden and Kalkaji Mandir are interchange stations, there will be significant reduction in travelling time between various destinations especially those on the blue and violet lines.

"The approximate time taken presently from Botanical Garden to Kalkaji is 52 minutes. Once Botanical Garden starts operations, it will take just 19 minutes.  We expect a load of 1,23,020 passengers by 2021. Currently, the ridership is at 30,000.

Talking about the new additions on the Magenta line, Anuj Dayal, executive director of Corporate Communications of DMRC said that they are planning to start open mode Automatic Fare Collection gates on the Magenta line.

The key factor behind starting Open Mode of AFC gate is to save time and power. Talking about the dual aspects, a senior DMRC officer said, to ensure smooth entry and exit of the people at the Botanical Garden metro station, which will be the  largest interchange station in the National Capital Region. Since there will be 11 gates, we expect huge rush of commuters. Keeping this in mind, we will install open mode gates at all the nine stations in the Botanical Garden- Kalkaji Mandir corridor.

One of the stations will be named Jasola Vihar Shaheen Bagh, metro officials said.

Meanwhile, the Botanical garden station, on the Dwarka-Noida line will cut travel time for commuters travelling from Noida to Faridabad by 36 minutes and from Noida city centre to Jasola Apollo by 26 minutes. Once the Botanical Garden on the phase 3 of the Magenta line becomes operational, it will take just 40 minutes from Noida to Domestic terminal of the IGI airport.