Public transport best option to reach C'Wealth Games venues

Public transport is the best option for those headed towards Commonwealth Games venues here with the government and police warning spectators about traffic restrictions and limited parking space.

Delhi Metro and Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) have made elaborate arrangements by increasing train frequency and opening focal points from where buses will be available to reach venues.

City police commissioner YS Dadwal has appealed to people to use public transport during the Games. "I personally prefer Delhi Metro. But arrangements on roads are also equally good. Metro has its own advantage," he said.

The DTC has identified 32 focal points all across the National Capital Region from where low-floor buses will be operated providing direct destination-oriented service to Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium for opening and closing ceremony.

It includes Shahdara, Anand Vihar, Seemapuri, Uttam Nagar, Dwarka Sector-10, Azadpur, Najafgarh, Shahbad Dairy, Vasant Kunj, Mukherjee Nagar, Mehrauli, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Bahadurgarh, Greater Noida and Noida Sector-62.

DTC will also provide direction oriented bus services to venues during the next fortnight. "We have identified five hubs which will be connected with all venues," an official said.

The five hubs are Anand Vihar ISBT, Kashmere Gate ISBT, Shivaji Stadium Terminal, Dhaula Kuan and Nehru Place, the official said.

The shuttle services of Metro can also be used to reach venues. From Indraprastha station, one can go to Indira Gandhi stadium, Jor Bagh to Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, Tuglaqabad to Karni Shooting Range, Udyog Bhavan to National Stadium, Green Park to Siri Fort, Patel Chowk to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium. RK Ashram Marg to Talkatora, Karkardooma to Yamuna Sports Complex and Hauz Khaz to R K Khanna stadium.

On Metro network, trains will run at an average frequency of 2.5 minutes. It has also deployed engineers from Germany and South Korea to ensure no technical glitches take place besides setting up information desks to help commuters.

On the Central Secretariat-Badarpur corridor, which became operational this morning, trains will run at a frequency of 2.25 minutes as it provides connectivity to the main CWG venue -- Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Metro will run trains at a frequency of 3.40 minutes on Line 1 (Rithala-Rohini), Line 2 Central Secretariat to Gurgaon (2.30 min), Line 3 Dwaraka Sec 9-Noida City Centre (2.44 min), Line 6 Central Secretariat-Badarpur (2.25 min) and Line 5 Mundka-Indelok (5.11 min). Currently, the average frequency is 3.5 minutes to 4 minutes.

Metro will run a total of 181 trains -- 133 broad gauge and 48 standard gauge -- during the Games.

Additional ticket counters with pre-vended tokens have been set up at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Jangpura Metro stations as they are adjacent to the JLN Stadium.