Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri flagged off the Janakpuri West- Kalkaji Mandir section of the Magenta line on Monday evening from the Nehru Enclave Metro Station. The two then took a train to Hauz Khas Metro Station.

Senior Delhi Metro Rail Corporation official said that the 24.82 kilometre long corridor is the longest stretch opened as part of Delhi Metro’s Phase 3 so far. “It consists of 16 stations and will provide Metro connectivity to the national capital’s arterial Outer Ring Road. The corridor will also connect the airport’s domestic terminal with Metro services for the first time. Passenger services on this section will commence from 6 am on Tuesday morning.”

Speaking on the occasion, Hardeep Singh Puri said, “Delhi Metro now has a network of 277 kilometres. By December this year, it will reach the 380 kilometre mark.”

Arvind Kejriwal said, “I congratulate the Delhi Metro’s engineers and the people of Delhi for the opening of this line. This line will bring more comfort for the people and will improve the traffic situation.”

After the Janakpuri West - Kalkaji Mandir section opens, 16 new stations will be added to the Delhi Metro Magenta line network. Of these 14 will be underground and 2 will be elevated. The stations are; Janakpuri West, Dabri Mor, Dashrathpuri, Palam, Sadar Bazar Cantonment, Terminal 1 — IGI Airport, Shankar Vihar, Vasant Vihar, Munirka, RK Puram, Hauz Khas, IIT, Panchsheel Park, Chirag Delhi, Greater Kailash, Nehru Enclave. The total number of stations of the Delhi Metro Magenta line network will now be 25. The other 9 stations that are already operational are, Kalkaji Mandir, Okhla NSIC, Sukhdev Vihar, Jamia Millia Islamia, Okhla Vihar, Jasola Vihar Shaheen Bagh, Kalindi Kunj, Okhla Bird Sanctuary and Botanical Garden.

With the Janakpuri West - Kalkaji Mandir section of Magenta line opening, interchange facilities will be available at several stations of the network. The interchange stations would be Hauz Khas (Yellow line), Janakpuri West (Blue line), Kalkaji Mandir (Violet line) and Botanical Garden (Blue line).

According to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), commuters on the network will save both time and money with the full Magenta line opening. One of the biggest advantage would be for daily commuters between Gurugram and Noida, who will now be able to travel between the two cities in just 50 minutes. That’s a reduction of 30 minutes. That’s because instead of changing at Rajiv Chowk and boarding the Blue line, Delhi Metro commuters can now interchange from Hauz Khas and use the Magenta line to reach Botanical Garden in Noida.

An infographic by Delhi Metro suggests that by using the Magenta line to travel between Qutub Minar and Kalkaji Mandir, people can save Rs 20 and approximately 21 minutes of their time. From Hauz Khas to Kalkaji Mandir, commuters will save 48 minutes of their time and Rs 10!

According to DMRC, commuters on the network will save both time and money with the full Magenta line opening. The exact base fare for the Delhi Metro Magenta line has not yet been provided by DMRC, but watch this space for the update once the information is made available.

Delhi Metro Magenta line will operate 24 trains which will eventually go up to 26. This is apart from the operating reserves. The frequency of trains during peak hours will be 5 minutes 15 seconds and during lean hours it will likely be 6 minutes. On Sunday, services will start at 8:00 AM from the terminal stations, ie. Janakpuri West and Botanical Garden.

In addition, services from intermediate stations (Terminal 1 IGI Airport, RK Puram, Hauz Khas, Kalkaji Mandir and Jasola Vihar Shaheen Bagh) will also start from 8 AM onwards on Sundays. The frequency of trains may be revised by Delhi Metro after studying the traffic patterns.