There is still time for the Metro's Magenta Line to make a dent into staunch loyalists of the Yellow Line who use it to travel between Noida and Gurugram. With around 40 minutes of the nearly 55 minutes journey from end to end without mobile connectivity, the recent line is yet to be installed with mobile signal boosters.
Out of the 25.6-kilometre long section, 23 kilometre are underground and the rest is elevated, which means as many as 23 stations on the route lose mobile connectivity. Mobiles services are accessible only on the two elevated two stations --- Sadar Bazaar Cantonment and Shankar Vihar on this line that runs between Botanical Garden and Janakpuri West. While the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is yet to calculate the exact number of passengers it is losing to the Yellow Line daily, officials agree Magenta Line has not been able to woo commuters because of the lack of mobile connectivity. The Yellow competitor running into over 48 km, on the other hand, has signal boosters throughout the route with most of its stations underground.
"It is true that a lot of people travelling from Noida to Dwarka and Gurugram still use the Yellow Line because they are not able to use their phones on the Magenta section. Officegoers find it difficult to access emails and even youngsters who are constantly wired, are not happy about it," said a Metro operator on the route. "We are regularly asked when will the stations be updated so that they can use phones," he further said.
Meanwhile, sources in the DMRC informed that they are in the process of inviting tenders to install signal boosters among other paraphernalia in underground stations. The whole process will take about two months, the official said. Talking about the technical know-how, the official shared that the DMRC will install one main antenna outside the station that has weakest signal reception. Sub-antennas will be installed at all the 23 underground stations. The main antenna will catch signals from the nearest mobile tower, and amplify it to sub-antennas for end users.
According to the official, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had directed DMRC to rectify the problem of no signals after it received complaints while it had started operations on Yellow Line years ago.
FAVOURED ROUTE
The Yellow competitor running into over 48 km, on the other hand, has signal boosters throughout the route with most of its stations underground.
