Commuters of the Airport Express line won’t have to stand in queue to take separate tickets to travel on that line as smart cards will be made valid for the same from Friday onwards.
“From May 1, all the Delhi Metro smart cards will be valid for travel by the Airport Express line and thus, there is no need for DMRC smart card holders to purchase any additional token or card separately for travel on the Airport Express line,” said a DMRC official, adding that even those who interchange between Airport line and other lines of the Delhi Metro would also be benefited as their Metro smart card will be valid for travelling on the Airport Express line as well.
Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu, a regular traveller on the Airport Express line of the Delhi Metro, inaugurated the facility on Thursday by purchasing the first Interoperable Metro smart card from Shivaji Stadium Metro Station of the Airport line.
For public convenience, the existing Smart Cards issued from the stations on the Airport Express line will continue to be valid only for travel on the Airport Express line as well. “No new Airport Express smart cards will be issued from May 1. Commuters using the Airport Express line smart card will not be able to use their cards for travel on the other lines of the Delhi Metro but they can get their old Airport line smart card exchanged, if they so desire, with the new smart card, which will be valid across the Metro network,” added the official.
Under this new arrangement, the security deposit for the purchase of the smart cards will continue to be Rs50, but the maximum recharge value will increase from the presently applicable Rs1,000 to Rs3,000. Commuters will be able to recharge their smart cards at the stations of the Airport line as well from Friday.
“This is one of the many measures that the DMRC has taken to popularise the Airport Express line. Increase in frequency of trains, improvement of timings, adjustment of the departure timings as per the arrival of Shatabdi Express trains are some of the measures that have already been taken earlier,” said the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation in a statement.