PM Modi inaugurates new Metro station in Delhi as Airport Line gets extension

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the extension of Delhi Metro’s Airport Express Line from the Dwarka Sector 21 station to a new station — Yashobhoomi Dwarka Sector 25 — which became operational for the public from 3pm onwards. The speed of trains on the line has also been increased, from the existing 110kmph to 120kmph, officials said.

The 2.2-km extension of the Airport Express Line will provide connectivity from central Delhi and the Airport to Yashobhoomi, the newly inaugurated state-of-the-art convention centre at Dwarka Sector 25.

Modi travelled by Metro to inaugurate the new station, line extension, and convention centre. He boarded a train from the Dhaula Kuan Metro station and interacted with passengers onboard, and posed for selfies. A woman passenger also wished him on his birthday in Sanskrit.

Modi turned 73 on Sunday. This was the twelfth time that Modi travelled on the Metro to inaugurate a facility or reach a venue in Delhi.

The 24.9-km line now has seven stations — New Delhi (interchange with Yellow Line), Shivaji Stadium, Dhaula Kuan, Delhi Aerocity, Airport (T3), Dwarka Sector 21 (interchange with Blue Line) and Yashobhoomi Dwarka Sector 25.

Yashobhoomi Dwarka Sector 25 is an underground station and has three subways, including a 735-metre-long subway that connects the station to the convention centre. Yashobhoomi has been developed as India’s largest exhibition and convention centre and is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities such as auditoriums, hotels, office spaces and plazas.

“Another subway connects the entry and exit across the Dwarka Expressway, while the third connects the Metro station to the foyer of future exhibition halls of the Yashobhoomi complex,” Anuj Dayal, principal executive director, corporate communications at Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said.

The Metro station also has eight lifts, each capable of carrying 20 people at a time. DMRC said the capacity of lifts in the earlier stations of the Delhi Metro network was between 8 to 13 people per lift.

“In addition to serving the convention centre, this new station will also provide connectivity to the residents around Sector 25, Dwarka, and the new sectors along the Dwarka Expressway in neighbouring Gurugram. As a result, residents of these areas will be able to reach central Delhi in about half an hour,” Dayal added.

With the opening of this section, the Delhi Metro network, including the Noida-Greater Noida Metro Corridor and Rapid Metro in Gurugram, will become 393 km long with 288 stations.

Separately, DMRC said it increased the operational speed of Metro trains on the airport line from the existing 110kmph to 120kmph from Sunday — the move, officials said, will bring down the travel time between the New Delhi and IGI Airport stations to 15-and-a-half minutes.

“The approximate travel time between New Delhi and IGI Airport Terminal 3 will be about 15 minutes and 30 seconds. Earlier, it was a little more than 18 minutes,” said Dayal.

This is the third time that the operational speed of the Airport Express line has been increased this year — DMRC increased its speed from 90 kmph to 100 kmph on March 22, and the speed of the trains was further increased to 110 kmph on June 22.

DMRC had earlier said that eight trains comprising six coaches each will run on this line at a frequency of 10 minutes.

(With agency inputs)