Delhi Metro introduces 21 trains, providing 812 additional trips daily
What's the story
With air quality on a consistent decline in the national capital and neighboring cities, the Delhi Metro, on Wednesday, brought into service 21 additional trains on its network that will provide 812 additional trips per day. The move came on the same day the third section - a 17.8km stretch - of the Delhi Metro's Pink Line was opened. Here are the details.
Details
What we know about the additional trips
Of the 21 trains pressed into service, 14 trains will plough the newly-opened 17.8-km Shiv Vihar-Trilokpuri-Sanjay Lake section of the Pink Line, providing 730 trips per day on this section. The remaining seven trains will traverse other sections of the Delhi Metro. Accounting for the additional number of trips, the Delhi Metro will now be running 4,381 trips daily - its highest ever.
New section
Details about the new section of the Pink Line
The newly-opened 17.8km stretch of the Pink Line has 15 elevated stations, including three that allows passengers to change to other lines of the Delhi Metro. Passengers will be able to change to the Blue Line from the stations of Karkardooma and Anand Vihar, while an interchange facility for the Red Line will be available from the Welcome station.
Pollution
Authorities are struggling to control spiralling air pollution
The additional trains were introduced keeping in mind the worsening air quality in the National Capital Region (NCR). Air quality had already hit the 'Severe' category earlier, and is expected to worsen further, owing to crop stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, vehicular emissions, slowing wind speeds, and Diwali. Temporarily stopping private transport to curb pollution has also been proposed.