Gurgaon to have internal Metro service,line to Delhi by 2012

The internal Metro service by the consortium,a completely privately funded transport venture,was approved by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) in July and is now awaiting the final nod by the Urban Development Ministry.

The 5-km Metro stretch is to be integrated with the Delhi Metro at Sikanderpur Metro station and might have a common ticketing system compatible with the Delhi Metro. The frequency of trains on the Rapid Metro Rail Gurgaon will also be synchronised with Delhi Metro to facilitate easy and quick commuting for passengers.

“The route planned will connect the two Metro rail services and will act as a feeder for the Delhi Metro’s Central Secretariat to Gurgaon Line. Delhi Metro’s Sikanderpur Metro station will be connected through a 90-metre long and 9-m wide bridge to link it with the internal Metro rail service,” said Sanjiv Rai,Managing Director,Rapid Metro Rail Gurgaon.

The internal Metro rail will run in the form of a loop starting out from Sikanderpur leading to DLF Phase II from where it will branch out and cover four other stations —— DLF Phase III,the proposed site for Mall of India,Gateway Towers and Belvedere Park. The Metro rail system will,however,be on standard gauge and therefore cannot be directly linked to the Delhi Metro,which runs on a broad gauge.

“The system will be equipped with Automatic Train Operation (ATO),Automatic Train Protection (ATP) and Automatic Train supervision (ATS). The ATO will ensure reliability and punctuality of the trains while the ATP will ensure no collision of trains take place in any condition. The ATS will be done from the station as well as the control centre,” Rai told Newsline. “The system has been designed to run at a minimum frequency of 90 seconds but the initial frequency will be nearly four minutes. There is also a provision of extending this system in either direction.”

The projected passenger load on the Qutab Minar to Gurgaon Metro corridor by 2011 is estimated at around 1.8 lakh commuters and a heavy passenger load of this is expected to switch on to the internal Metro rail system. The project is estimated at Rs 900 crore and is expected to be completed within a period of 30 months from the time of the financial closure.

The concession was awarded by HUDA for a period of 99 yrs to build and operate the Metro System in which IL&FS will hold 74 per cent stake and the remaining 26 per cent will be held by DLF Metro.