Metro Heritage Line services to begin ahead of Holi

The special Metro Heritage Line, aimed at giving a glimpse of the city’s cultural heritage, may start operating before March 13. The Line was supposed to be thrown open for the public in January but was delayed due to multiple reasons. 

“The work on the Line is almost complete. Only final touches are remaining, which will be completed by January end. Hopefully, we will get the fire safety certificates by February first week,” said a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) official. 

The official added that the Corporation will then seek final approval from the Chief Metro Rail Safety Commission, which is likely to be sanctioned by February-end, if no irregularities are found. 

The Heritage Line will connect ITO in central Delhi to Kashmere Gate in the north. The trials on the 5.17 km ITO–Kashmere Gate section of the Violet Line started on August 10, 2016. The stretch is an extension of the currently operational Escorts Mujesar (Faridabad)–ITO corridor. 

The entirely underground section comprises four stations – Delhi Gate, Jama Masjid, Lal Quila and Kashmere Gate. The Kashmere Gate station will become the first-ever interchange facility of the Delhi Metro system to provide inter-connectivity between three corridors of the network (Violet Line with Red and Yellow Lines). 

Meanwhile, the Delhi Metro continued to break more ridership records during the year. On August 17, for the first time, over 33 lakh people travelled on the Metro in a single day. It also happened to be the eve of Raksha Bandhan. A few days earlier on August 12, the Airport Line also broke the 50,000 record, with 50,077 passengers travelling in a day.