METRONew Delhi:- As newer sections are shooting up ridership figures substantially, Delhi Metro is on the process of installing 210 new Automatic Fare Collection gates (AFC) in key stations across its network to ensure smooth flow of commuters.
Although several other steps would be needed to manage the jump in ridership, Delhi Metro authorities are hoping that installing the new gates would help in reducing passenger snarls during entry or exit from the stations.
Among the new gates, a maximum of 20 are being installed at Huda City Centre Station of Yellow Line, a major terminal station located in the heart of Gurgaon, which sees a huge number of footfalls everyday.
At the Govindpuri and Nehru Place stations of Violet Line, 10 new gates each are to be installed. The corridor, with an average ridership of 1.92 lakh, has seen a jump in the numbers after the recent launch of the ITO station.
While approximately 22,000 passengers are expected to use the station daily by 2016, nearly two lakh more passengers would use the line once the extension till Faridabad is thrown open.
Keeping that in view, eight new gates are being installed at the Kalkaji Mandir station, while four each will be put up at Badarpur, Jasola and Moolchand stations.
On the Yellow line, eight gates would be put up at INA, Hauz Khas and MG Road stations, which are important halts in the corridor.
By next year, Delhi Metro’s Phase III expansion would add 140 kilometres to the existing network and nearly 15 lakh passengers to the daily ridership figure. The figure breached the 30-lakh mark on May 11.
PTI
