OnTuesday, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) announced that starting on Wednesday, it will increase the number of weekday train journeys by 40.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) announced on Tuesday that it will increase the number of weekday train journeys by 40 starting on Wednesday across the whole Metro network in order to comply with the directives, one day after environment minister Gopal Rai conducted a high-level meeting to implement Stage II of the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap).

Starting on Wednesday, October 25, 2023, the Delhi Metropolitan Region Corporation (DMRC) will operate 40 extra train excursions on weekdays (Monday through Friday) across its network as part of the many steps being adopted by the Delhi government to address pollution under Stage-II of GRAP. Anuj Dayal, principal executive director of corporate communications at DMRC, stated that this was meant to increase passenger use of public transportation throughout Delhi-NCR.

The potential reduction in wait time following the addition of these 40 train journeys was not made explicit by DMRC, nevertheless. It is true that DMRC operates approximately 4,300 train journeys daily throughout its network in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), thus the 40 more excursions would not have a significant impact.

According to a Metro official who asked to remain anonymous, the Yellow Line’s train frequency (from Millennium City Center to Samaypur Badli) ranged from around two minutes to about 10 minutes on the Airport Express Line (from New Delhi to Yashobhoomi Dwarka Sector 25).

On Saturday, Stage II was declared throughout the city due to predictions that the air quality will worsen to “very poor.” Among the 11 actions listed in this category are expanding the bus fleet and upping the frequency of Metro services.

DMRC’s 393-km network, which spans the Delhi-NCR region and consists of 12 Metro lines with a total of 288 Metro stations, including the Rapid Metro in Gurugram and the Aqua Line in Noida.

Gopal Rai, the environment minister for Delhi, convened a high-level conference on Monday to assess how the various departments and agencies were getting ready to implement Grap Stage II. Rai also gave the DMRC and the transportation division instructions to enhance the frequency of buses and Metros.

“We have chosen to raise the Metro and DTC bus frequency under Grap. Everywhere the frequency is every 7-8 minutes, DMRC has been instructed to cut it to 5-6 minutes, he said on Monday.

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) invoked Stage II of Grap on Saturday after the Capital’s air quality deteriorated and the AQI registered “poor”. This winter, Delhi has only experienced one “very poor” air day, which occurred on Sunday and had an AQI of 313.

The Stage II initiatives include, among others, tight enforcement of the ban on diesel generator sets, guaranteeing a consistent power supply across the NCR, raising parking costs to discourage the use of public transportation, and boosting bus and Metro services by adding more fleet.

Source- Hindustan times