New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will not be a part of the inauguration of a section of Delhi Metro’s newly-built Magenta Line, which will be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.
Locked in a battle with the Centre and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation since the fare hike, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's office denied receiving any invitation of the inauguration ceremony.
"We have no official intimation of the programme. Our top most priority is a safe Metro for the passengers and at a reasonable price. So far as the inauguration is concerned we haven't received any invitation. The question must better be put to the DMRC and Urban Development Ministry," a spokesperson said.
The Prime Minister will also address public at the inauguration, which will happen at the Botanical Garden Metro Station.
"This is the third Metro line to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister in 2017. He had earlier dedicated the Kochi Metro to the nation in June, and the Hyderabad Metro in November. As on both those occasions, the Prime Minister will travel on a stretch of this new line, before arriving at the venue of the public meeting," a statement said.
The Botanical Garden-Kalkaji section will comprise nine stations. Apart from Kalkaji Mandir, all other stations are elevated.
Commuters can reduce their travel time between the two locations from existing 52 minutes (Botanical Garden to Mandi House via Blue Line and onwards to Kalkaji on Violet Line) to 19 minutes on the Magenta Line.
The entire line, when complete, will run from Botanical Garden to Janakpuri West.
This would be first line on the Delhi Metro network where driverless trains will be introduced along with an advanced degree of automation, which will bring down the frequency of trains arriving at stations down to 90 seconds.
Apprehensions were raised about the possible flaws in driverless technology earlier in the week, when a train parked in Kalindi Kunj depot suffered a failure of brakes and rammed through a side wall going off rails.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation afterwards said the train was in for maintenance and off-sigalling system and was being operated by a Metro staff. Four officials, including a deputy general manager, were sacked after being held responsible for the accident.
Comments
0 comment