Airport Metro to get a new timetable: 4 am to midnight

Sources said that with the increase in operation hours,the timing for check-in facility at the Airport Metro stations will also be increased. The three airlines — Air India,Kingfisher and Jet Airways — have their check-in counters at the New Delhi and Shivaji Stadium stations.

“We are in the process of working out the extended timeframe. We are already at par with international standards by running the service for 18 hours daily. We will soon increase the timings to 20 hours a day. It will be highly beneficial for early morning and late night commuters,” a Reliance Infrastructure spokesperson said.

According to the concession agreement between Reliance Infra and Delhi Metro,the concessionaire had to run the Metro service for at least 20 hours a day. The line was,however,opened with a daily service of 16 hours,which was later extended to 18 hours

Sources said with the introduction of check-in facility,the ridership on the corridor has gone up by 20 per cent. It is expected that the increase in timings will take the ridership figure higher. Sources added that once the CMRS completes its inspection and gives an approval for the two pending stations on the line — Dhaula Kuan and Aerocity — they,too,will be opened for commuters.

While the line was opened for commuters in February,no formal inauguration was done as the authorities wanted to hold the function only after all facilities were in place. Now,with all services expected to be ready by next month,a function is also likely by the end of July.