In a huge relief to lakhs of commuters, the expansion of Metro network in the city will reduce the distance between the two interchange Metro stations by as much as 15 km. The crisscrossing of the Metro corridors being constructed under the Phase III network with the existing lines at many places will lead to emergence of several interchange stations, thus, shortening the distance between two different parts of the city by up to 15 km at some locations. Once this phase becomes fully operational by 2016, the Delhi Metro network will have a total of 22 interchange stations.
Metro commuters will be able to travel faster and without hassles as with the coming up of other interchange stations of Phase III, commuters in almost all parts of Delhi will be able to change trains without going to the present interchange stations like Rajiv Chowk and Central Secretariat. The 13 upcoming junction stations include Hauz Khas, INA, Rajouri Garden, Mayur Vihar Phase-I, Azadpur, Netaji Subhash Place, lajpat Nagar, Anand Vihar, Karkardooma, Welcome, Kalkaji Mandir, Botanical Garden and Mandi House. Presently, there are nine interchange stations — Rajiv Chowk, Kashmere Gate, Central Secretariat, Inderlok, Ashok Park Main, Yamuna Bank, Dwarka Sector 21, New Delhi and Kirti Nagar.
With the coming up of interchange stations at Karkarduma and Anand Vihar in Phase III, the present day distance of these stations from nearest Metro station Welcome will come down drastically to 4.34 km and 5.49 km from the 19.26 km and 20.32 km respectively at present. This will bring them closer by almost 15 km which will not only save travel time but will also help in saving money for the passengers.
The upcoming interchange station at Hauz Khas will serve as an interchange between Jahangirpuri to Huda City Centre corridor and the proposed Janakpuri West to Botanical Garden corridor (line 8) of Phase III. Passengers coming from Gurgaon on line 2 will be able to get down at Hauz Khas and take a direct train to Kalkaji. And by doing so they would save traveling of about 13.14 km. Through this connectivity, traveling time between Gurgaon and Noida will be brought down by at least 30 minutes.
Similarly, Rajouri Garden (interchange between line 3 and Majlis Park (Mukundpur)-Shiv Vihar corridor will help Dwarka (West Delhi) residents, who want to travel to South Delhi. Dwarka residents will be able to reach places like Sarojini Nagar, South Extension and lajpat Nagar, faster as the travel time will reduce. Earlier to visit such places, Rajiv Chowk was the interchange station. The new interchange stations will also help in decongesting the currently operational interchange stations. After completion of Phase III, Delhi Metro’s network will have 23 interchange stations.