Boarding a metro from Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, especially from Terminal-II has become a hurdle for the passengers as the Metro station is connecting neither the terminal nor a proper signage boards installed indicating direction and route to reach the station.
Also, it appears to be a tussle between the concerned authorities - Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) as both are blaming each other for the absence of proper signage and route maps.
Recently, a passenger, who faced difficulty in identifying route in the absence of signages and route maps, filed a complaint with the DMRC expressing the problems he faced. In reply, DMRC said, “We had requested DIAL to increase the visibility at Airports. Since the area belongs to DIAL therefore email is hereby forwarded for taking necessary action please.”
“In reference to your e-mail, we deeply regret the inconvenience caused. Further, it is informed that some signages are placed in said area. However, the said area comes under DIAL and they have been requested to provide more directional signage at Terminal- II displaying the way for metro station,” said the DMRC further.
In a reality check done by the Pioneer found that the Delhi metro’s Airport express line is connected to the Terminal -I and III and the passengers who de-board from the terminal -II opted more for the private cabs than the metro.
Moreover, there were many other passengers who faced difficulty in searching the route for the
Metro Station. Also, there were no customer care cells installed to help the people.
“The essence of providing metro connectivity to air traveler is being stultified by airport authorities’ failure to install legible route maps and signage and have left the passengers to the mercy of adhoc commercial cabs and internet cabs giants, falling prey to inconsistent surge pricing and ley airport toll/fee charge during exit movement from arrival section of airport.
DMRC has put blame on DIAL and there has been no response from DIAL and authorities are seemingly asleep,” said the complainant Mohit Kumar Gupta.
Another passenger travelling to Delhi from Gujarat said, “Boarding a metro station from here is a difficult task as the station is far from here as well as there is no signage boards and routes map at the Terminal-II. Hence, people take cabs but metro is the best option to reach a place on time, so the concerned authority should provide proper facility,” he added.