Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar on Tuesday formally inaugurated the commercial operation of the Rapid Metro Phase-II, which was earlier opened by Il&FS Rail ltd CEO Rajiv Banga on March 31.
Khattar on Tuesday inaugurated the Sector 55-56 stretch of the Rapid Metro Phase-II line that provides connectivity between five stations with an interchange facility at Sikanderpur Metro Station.
The second phase has five stations which include DlF Phase 1, Sector 42-43, Sector 53-54, Sector 54 Chowk and Sector 55-56. The line starts from Sikanderpur Metro Station that is connected to the Delhi Metro’s Yellow line near Bristol Chowk and terminates at Golf Course Extension T-junction.
“Tuesday’s inauguration was a formal one, though train service on the Rapid Metro Phase 2 was available to commuters after the inauguration by Banga,” Rapid Metro’s spokeswoman Gunjan
Seven fully-automated trains will be running on the 6.6-km-long track with a frequency of four minutes during peak hours. Rapid Metro authorities have also taken care to synchronise their timings with Delhi Metro so that commuters do not lose valuable minutes during office rush hour. “We will start our operations at 6.05 am till 12.36 (midnight) in three directions. The first train will leave sector 55-56 station for Sikanderpur and then on to Cyber City. The second train will leave Sikanderpur and head towards sector 55-56.
“The third train will start from Sikanderpur, and carry commuters alighting from Delhi Metro to Cyber City,” an official with the Rapid Metro, said. “The extension of Rapid Metro network is our endeavour to provide a safe and convenient mode of commute to the residents of the Millennium City. To provide more convenient services to our commuters we are launching a Rapid Metro app,” Rajiv Banga, Managing Director and CEO, (Il&FS) Rail, said.
“I used to take an auto or bus to reach Metro station. Now that there is a Rapid Metro station 80 metres from where I live, I don’t have to worry about reaching Sikanderpur Metro station,” said Atul Pathak, a resident of Sector 55.
Meanwhile, CM Khattar took a joy ride on the Rapid Metro with schoolgirls, who had never travelled on the train before. He also took a selfie with them. More than 30 women Sarpanchs from different villages of Gurugram were present at the programme and also participated in the joy ride. The Chief Minister held talks with the women Sarpanchs and discussed issues regarding the strengthening of Panchayati Raj institutions and took feedback from them.
“The phase-2 line of the Rapid Metro primarily caters to the resident of Gurugram. It is now for them to harness it by embracing the mass transit systems and make it the preferred mode of the commute,” the Chief Minister, said.