The Delhi Metro is a rapid transit system serving Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region of India. The network consists of six lines with a total length of 189.
63 kilometres (117.83 mi) with 142 stations of which 35 are underground. It has a combination of elevated, at-grade and underground lines and uses both broad gauge and standard gauge rolling stock. Four types of rolling stock are used: Mitsubishi-ROTEM Broad gauge, Bombardier MOVIA, Mitsubishi-ROTEM Standard gauge and CAF Beasain Standard gauge.Delhi Metro is being built and operated by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC). As of November 2010, DMRC operates around 2,700 trips daily between 6:00 and 23:00 running with an interval of 2 minutes 30 seconds between trains at peak frequency.
[6][7] The trains are mainly of four coaches, but due to increase in passengers numbers, six-coach trains are also added on the Red Line (Dilshad Garden to Rithala), Yellow Line (Jahangirpuri to HUDA city centre), Blue Line (Dwarka sec ?21 to Vaishali/NOIDA city centre) and Violet Line (Central Secretariat to Badarpur).The power output is supplied by 25-kilovolt, 50 Hertz alternating current through overhead catenary. The metro has an average daily ridership of 1.8 million commuters, and, as of July 2011, had carried over 1.25 billion commuters since its inception.[9] The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has been certified by the United Nations as the first metro rail and rail-based system in the world to get “carbon credits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions” and helping in reducing pollution levels in the city by 630,000 tons (630 Gg) every year.
[10]Planning for the metro started in 1984, when the Delhi Development Authority and the Urban Arts Commission came up with a proposal for developing a multi-modal transport system for the city. The Government of India and the Government of Delhi jointly set up the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in 1995. Construction started in 1998, and the first section, on the Red Line, opened in 2002, followed by the Yellow Line in 2004, the Blue Line in 2005, its branch line in 2009, the Green and Violet Lines in 2010 and the Delhi Airport Metro Express in 2011.History BackgroundThe concept of a mass rapid transit for New Delhi first emerged from a traffic and travel characteristics study which was carried out in the city in 1969.[11] Over the next several years, many official committees by a variety of government departments were commissioned to examine issues related to technology, route alignment and governmental jurisdiction.
[12] In 1984, the Delhi Development Authority and the Urban Arts Commission came up with a proposal for developing a multi-modal transport system, which would consist of constructing three underground mass rapid transit corridors as well augmenting the city's existing suburban railway and road transport networks.[13]While extensive technical studies and the raising of finance for the project were in progress, the city expanded significantly resulting in a twofold rise in population and a fivefold rise in the number of vehicles between 1981 and 1998.[13] Consequently, traffic congestion and pollution soared, as an increasing number of commuters took to private vehicles with the existing bus system unable to bear the load.An attempt at privatising the bus transport system in 1992 merely compounded the problem, with inexperienced operators plying poorly maintained, noisy and polluting buses on lengthy routes, resulting in long waiting times, unreliable service, extreme overcrowding, unqualified drivers, speeding and reckless driving.[14] To rectify the situation, the Government of India and the Government of Delhi jointly set up a company called the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on March 5, 1995 with E.
Sreedharan as the managing director.[15]Dr. E. Sreedharan handed over charge as MD, DMRC to Shri Mangu Singh on 31st December 2011.
Construction Construction HistoryPhysical construction work on the Delhi Metro started on October 1, 1998.[16] After the previous problems experienced by the Kolkata Metro, which was badly delayed and 12 times over budget due to "political meddling, technical problems and bureaucratic delays", the DMRC was given full powers to hire people, decide on tenders and control funds.[17] The DMRC then consulted the Hong Kong MTR on rapid transit operation and construction techniques.[18] As a result, construction proceeded smoothly, except for one major disagreement in 2000, where the Ministry of Railways forced the system to use broad gauge despite the DMRC's preference for standard gauge.[19]The first line of the Delhi Metro was inaugurated by Atal Behari Vajpayee, the then Prime Minister of India on December 24, 2002[20] and thus it became the second underground rapid transit system in India, after the Kolkata Metro. The first phase of the project was completed in 2006[21] on budget and almost three years ahead of schedule, an achievement described by Business Week as "nothing short of a miracle".
